Event
Brain-Behavior Initiative Workshop
Friday, September 19, 2014
8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center
We encourage anyone on campus with an interest in research of the brain and behavior to attend this workshop, as we are specifically looking for groundbreaking ways to develop collaborations among researchers from different disciplines that might not typically be connected.
This workshop results from the efforts of an informal committee that was convened to explore the idea of creating an Brain and Behavior Institute (BBI) at UMD. The University already has many multidisciplinary collaborations ongoing among faculty in neuroscience, engineering, mathematics, physics, computer science, public health, educational neuroscience, and the performing arts, and we believe that the BBI has the potential to strengthen these connections and foster the development of new and innovative collaborations.
With support from Provost Mary Ann Rankin and Vice President for Research Pat O’Shea, this committee is convening a workshop to bring together the diverse faculty on campus who share a common interest in the study of the brain so that we can begin to establish a foundation for the BBI.
The overarching purpose of the workshop is to seed the formation of a campus-wide community of scholars who can collaborate in innovative ways. It will also obtain the input of this community on the concept of the BBI, which will help the committee to formulate a proposal for the Provost to outline the pathway to development of the Institute. The committee believes that this workshop will provide crucial feedback from the community that will shape the future of brain research at UMD over the coming decades.
The workshop will include one-minute talks from willing attendees in which they will briefly convey (1) what they do, (2) where they are going, and (3) what they need: what expertise or collaborations do they need to move their work to the next level? This communication of ideas at the workshop across such broad fields of interest will help the committee identify synergies, revealing the themes that would be central to the research activities of the BBI. The workshop also will include breakout group discussions in which each small group will discuss defined topics, which might include strengths and weaknesses in the study of brain and behavior at UMD, how they could benefit from the BBI, and potential structures for the BBI.
