Donors Enable Record Number of TPDA Awards to Neuroscience 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thanks to the generosity of donors to the Friends of SfN Fund, foundation and corporate supporters, and SfN Council, the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is supporting a record 272 neuroscience trainees to attend Neuroscience 2022 through the Trainee Professional Development Award (TPDA) program. The awardees will present their research at a dedicated poster session, attend professional development workshops, and network with peers and senior researchers.
“As we return to an in-person gathering for the first time in three years, SfN is delighted to support a record number of trainees to benefit from the unparalleled opportunities at Neuroscience 2022 to present research, build career connections, and hone professional skills,” said SfN President Gina Turrigiano. “SfN Council is proud to lead this fundraising initiative and we are deeply grateful for the support from SfN member donors and our foundation and corporate supporters who contributed significant co-funding to make this year’s record possible.”
The TPDA program provides catalytic support to promising undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows: awardees receive complimentary registration and, for those attending Neuroscience 2022 in person, a travel stipend. The 2022 TPDA recipients represent 18 countries and over 100 institutions across the globe. Awardees span a range of career levels: 57 postdoctoral fellows, 195 graduate students, and 20 undergraduate students. Sixty-three percent of TPDA awardees are female, and more than 53 percent are from diverse racial and ethnic populations.
A multilateral coalition of donors stepped forward to enable this year’s record number of TPDA awardees. SfN’s Friends of SfN Fund – donations from SfN members and community – provided over $31,000 to support the program. The Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Lilly, and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation each provided $25,000, and the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank (DSHB) and Science Translational Medicine also provided gifts. To recognize the importance of this program, SfN Council contributed $100,000 and also provided a one-to-one match for each gift of $25,000 and higher.
TPDA awardees in recent years cite the benefit of the program toward their career trajectory. “The TPDA has already benefitted my career so much… just getting access to the leading research in [computational neuroscience] has been incredible,” said Brianna Marsh, an undergraduate student at the University of Kansas. Mora Ogando, graduate student from the Biomedicine Research Institute of Buenos Aires, reported that “I get the chance to… do networking and get postdoctoral interviews, which is very hard coming from Argentina. Having personal interviews with all these people is a big opportunity for me.” Colleen Carpenter, postdoctoral fellow at University of California San Francisco, expressed, “I found [the SfN annual meeting] very valuable for meeting long-time researchers in my field… and learning what they think are great tips to be successful as a scientist.”
To learn more the TPDA program and opportunities to participate, please visit www.sfn.org or reach out to David Lindeman, Director of Grants & Development, at development@sfn.org.
