About (IDEAS)

IDEAS in Neuroscience is a 1-year paid training program for recent college graduates at the University of Utah. The program is funded by an NINDS-NIH R25 grant, and is geared to students who plan to apply to a Neuroscience PhD program after IDEAS ends. 

This meritorious post-baccalaureate program is for students who have recently graduated from college with a bachelors degrees in biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, chemistry, and other related science fields.  We admit 4 students each year, and the program starts on June 1, 2025. 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. 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 or the IDEAS cohort to one conference each year.