Our Approach

The Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience Program supports a three-pronged approach to advancing interdisciplinary understanding of mind, brain, and behavior. 

Training

PSSN educates a new generation of Scholars with the capacity to advance understanding of the humanistic and social dimensions of mind, brain, and behavior. The program sponsors interdisciplinary training and research collaboration for recent doctoral graduates from the arts, humanities or social science disciplines, and from neuroscience and related fields, who have proposed innovative research projects.

Grantmaking

PSSN awards seed grants to support Columbia and Barnard faculty for research or teaching that either involves direct collaboration between faculty members in neuroscience and other disciplines, or that crosses disciplinary boundaries to investigate issues relevant to both neuroscience and society.

Outreach

PSSN organizes a scholarly speaker series open to the public, Seminars in Society and Neuroscience, as well as other public outreach events on cross-disciplinary topics complementary to the research of Scholars and grant recipients.