The Princeton Neuroscience Institute is committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for researchers from all backgrounds. We strive to create an environment that makes interactions and collaborations enjoyable and fulfilling while also eliminating discrimination, harassment, exploitation, and intimidation. We affirm that promoting diversity is an active process that requires engagement.As a community, we respect the dignity, individuality, and freedom of each member. We aim to foster a sense of shared experience and common purpose, along with a collective responsibility for each other's well-being and for the well-being of the University as a whole.We seek to enable all members of this community to pursue their educational, scholarly, and career interests in an environment that recognizes both the distinctiveness of each person's experience and the common humanity that unites us all. Read our mission statement here. Princeton University's Commitment Princeton University is committed to equal opportunity and non-discrimination. To maximize excellence, we seek talent from all segments of American society and the world, and we take steps to ensure everyone at Princeton can thrive while they are here. That is the sole rationale and purpose of our diversity and inclusion programs, all of which are voluntary and open to all, and which comply with federal and state non-discrimination laws. Princeton does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, disability, or any other protected characteristic, and Princeton does not provide special benefits or preferential treatment on the basis of a protected characteristic. Programming & Intiatives Note that all PNI Climate & Inclusion programming and initiatives are open to everyone regardless of identity. Education Film day series Our Climate and Inclusion Committee started the Film Series this spring, a new initiative which aims to brings short films to our community at PNI on diversity themes. This has fostered a film club environment where folks can come together to enjoy and discuss art produced by filmmakers from around the world. We strive to include films that allow artists to tell stories from their cultures on their own terms. We feature 3-4 short films each time, and have included monthly themes such as feminism, LGBTQ+ pride, Climate Change, and contemporary impacts of colonialism on indigenous populations. Professional Boundaries workshop This workshop from Princeton University focuses on appropriate boundaries in professional relationships and best practices related to meetings, communications, socializing, and general interpersonal interactions (60 minutes). It is facilitated by Randy Hubert, the new Director of Gender Equity and Title IX Administration in Princeton's Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity. PNI hosted it again at the 2023 Summer Bootcamp for our incoming graduate students. GUIS - Growing Up in Science story-telling sessions With the “Growing up in science” (GUIS) seminar series, we invite successful neuroscientists or psychologists to talk with our grad students and postdocs about their "unofficial stories." We features one story at a time, with a focus on doubts, struggles, detours, and failures throughout all stages of their career. The primary goal is not to offer boilerplate career advice, but to examine in some depth and in the context of a broader narrative the hidden human factors of working in academia. GUIS started at NYU and is now a global effort, which PNI is proud to be part of. Learn more about GUIS BRinging Active Inclusion to Neuroscience Seminars (BRAINS) Series In 2019, we established the Princeton BRinging Active Inclusion to Neuroscience Seminars series (Princeton BRAINS Series). This effort, spearheaded by assistant professor Catherine Peña, aims to promote continual discussion and engagement among PNI’s faculty, trainees, and staff on topics of diversity and inclusion relevant to neuroscientists both as humans and in research practices.The Princeton BRAINS Series hosts 1-2 speakers per year to bring ongoing attention to these topics. Speakers have included Dr. Marguerite Matthews from NINDS in the office of Programs to Enhance Neuroscience Diversity, Bas Hofstra and Daniel McFarland speaking on “the diversity-innovation paradox,” Dr. Daniel Colon-Ramon on his science and path as a Puerto Rican scientist, Dr. Nathaniel Harnett on the impact of racism within the brain, and Dr. Liz Phelps on the neuroscience of implicit bias.These topics encourage continued introspection and learning and discussion — within the context of neuroscience — to promote diversity and a healthy climate more broadly. Career Development Inclusive Mentoring Best Practices Originally developed by Yael Niv a PNI faculty member, and now taught by the McGraw Teaching Center at Princeton, PNI offers a course in mentoring for senior graduate students and postdocs. From the course description, “A major component of many careers is mentoring trainees. Mentoring practices profoundly affect the well-being of a team, and consequently, its productivity and success. While there is no magic formula, there are best practices for mentoring and for developing a reflective personal style. In this course, we discuss these and practice them weekly. Small groups meet for weekly facilitated discussions of what worked and what did not, and to help each other solve dilemmas encountered.” The course includes topics such as Mentoring Equitably (week 9) and Mentoring to Different Needs & Promoting Wellbeing (week 10). Trainees also have the opportunity to mentor undergraduates through PNI’s Summer Internship Program as well as Princeton undergraduates conducting research for their junior and senior theses. Princeton offers the ReMatch program to facilitate these mentoring relationships and PNI graduate students and postdocs are active in this program. Finally, Yael Niv also leads an Inclusive Teaching initiative with PNI and Psychology faculty, staff, and trainees, that covers many topics on mentoring as well. Summer Internship Program The Summer Internship Program (SIP) offers students a 9-week research experience at PNI. This program is designed for students interested in pursuing a PhD who have limited neuroscience research experience and attend schools (two-year or four-year colleges) with few research opportunities.During the internship, participants will:Gain hands-on research experience in PNI laboratoriesAttend weekly faculty lecture seriesParticipate in workshops designed to strengthen graduate school applications in neuroscience and related fieldsHave the option to join coding classes in Python, MATLAB, and RInterns will present their research at an end-of-summer poster session at PNI and have the opportunity to showcase their work at the annual Leadership Alliance National Symposium (LANS) in Connecticut.PNI welcomes and encourages applications from all undergraduate students. TigerBrain PNI started TigerBrain - the PNI Postdoc Scholars Symposium in 2023, with the inaugural event on May 12, 2023. We invite several senior postdoctoral researchers who are thinking about entering the academic job market to present their work at Princeton. In addition to a speaking opportunity, we also offer the opportunity to meet 1:1 with our faculty members and trainees as well as tour our facilities. Postdoc Career Development We offer many professional development activities that are geared towards PNI postdoctoral trainees, but are open for everyone to attend.Some of the regularly offered activities include:Growing Up In Science (GUIS) seminar series, in which invited external seminar speakers and PNI faculty participate in casual, but frank conversations about their sometimes nonlinear pathway to becoming a professor;Workshops on applying to academic jobs, including how to find job openings, crafting the application, giving a job talk, and how to do a chalk talk, and how to negotiate;Grant writing workshops, namely focused on F- and K-series NIH grants.Panel discussions featuring PNI postdocs who recently obtained faculty positions about the experience of navigating the academic hiring process; and Beyond the Bench - a monthly discussion featuring neuroscientists who are currently working in positions outside of academia (e.g., Facebook, Google DeepMind, Intel, Simons Foundation, Nature). Pulse-taking: Surveys, Lunch and Learns University Survey Princeton's Office of the Provost collaborates with leaders of academic units across the University to design and deliver climate surveys. Climate surveys are an essential tool for gaining important information about community members’ perceptions of belonging, inclusion and equity. Survey questions and responses are customized to meet the needs of each academic unit using a survey template developed and adapted from institutional surveys run for all campus populations (undergrads, grads, faculty, postdocs and staff). The administration of the survey is confidentially carried out in partnership with academic departments, centers and institutes. Academic leaders use the survey feedback to develop strategies to ensure that all members of the department feel included and respected regardless of their role or other aspects of their identity. PNI NanoPoll NanoPoll is a new initiative to get a ‘living measure’ of the department’s climate and culture. Very short surveys are sent to a few random people every day. These surveys are anonymous, and people can fill them out straight from their email client. NanoPoll is designed to minimize the burden on responders: our summer pilot had double the response rate of our last major survey. With NanoPoll, we can now track changes in department climate over time.
