About (IDEAS)

IDEAS in Neuroscience is a 2-year paid training program for recent college graduates at the University of Utah. The program is funded by an NIH grant, and is geared to students who plan to apply to a Neuroscience PhD program after IDEAS ends. 

This post-baccalaureate program is for underrepresented students in STEM. We admit 4 students each year, and the program starts the week of July 8, 2024. Students receive a $35,000 annual stipend, health insurance, tuition, and a small relocation bonus. 

Upon arrival, students attend an orientation, rotate in three different labs of their choosing, and eventually choose a lab to join for the two years. Students participate in neuroscience bootcamps and a neuroscience retreat, attend professional development activities, take 1-2 graduate level classes each semester, and work in their chosen lab. As this training program is meant to prepare students to successfully apply and matriculate as Neuroscience PhD students, the majority of their time will be spent doing research in the lab. Students will also travel with their lab to one conference each year (likely Society for Neuroscience, SACNAS, or ABRCMS, although this will be tailored to the student's research interest/project).