Mission and Goals

The Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience (PSSN) program aims to facilitate cross-disciplinary, collaborative research to advance our understanding of mind, brain, and behavior. The program fosters, and independently funds, direct communication and knowledge sharing between experts in the natural and social sciences, arts, and humanities; thus creating a new paradigm for interdisciplinary university-sponsored research.

Program Goals:

  • Seek out, fund, and cultivate cross-disciplinary research that has the potential to transform the understanding of brain and behavior but is unlikely to be supported through more traditional, compartmentalized scientific programs
     
  • Recruit and support talented early-career researchers with interdisciplinary interests and a critical understanding of neuroscience
     
  • Foster a new culture of collaborative inquiry between the human, social, and natural sciences that transcends divisions between schools, institutes, and campuses across Columbia University