PiN students have the opportunity to earn a Certificate in Computational Neuroscience (CiCN). Computational neuroscience is a rapidly expanding and important subfield within neuroscience and trainees increasingly need more advanced quantitative, computational, and modeling skills to pursue their desired research. This certificate was designed to guide students, including newcomers to computational neuroscience and students in experimental labs, as they learn and practice these skills, and support them through mentorship and peer support.
As part of the Certificate, students complete coursework to learn programming, foundational quantitative subjects such as statistics and linear algebra, core computational neuroscience, and more tailored advanced topics. A series of workshops covers more specialized topics, including the design of neuroscience modeling projects and strategies for organizing computational work to prioritize reproducibility. Building on this foundation, students pursue a computational project as part of their dissertation research (although students do not need to pursue purely computational research or be in a computational lab). Critically, Certificate directors, Jan Drugowitsch and Sam Gershman, and faculty with computational expertise mentor students throughout this process so they receive guidance and feedback on their computational research. Students also receive feedback from the larger Harvard community through participation in yearly symposiums. Through participation in the Certificate, students gain the skill set, experience, and confidence necessary to pursue computational research.
