• A note about timing and benefits of the curriculum.
• Elements specific and unique to the Training Program
• Seminar series and informal forums
• Program and departmental requirements
• Note to postdoctoral trainees

The CTRD pre-doctoral curriculum is designed to promote interdisciplinary knowledge and the acquisition of new research skills and techniques.  It will ensure that students conduct their research ethically and that they meet requirements for the Ph.D. degree in their respective departments and program.

Information is organized according to 1) elements specific and unique to the program, 2) seminar series and informal forums, and 3) program and departmental requirements.

A note about timing and benefits of the curriculum.  CTRD trainees will often be selected after they finish their coursework. We have fewer fellowships than interested students and consequently these curricular guidelines will be followed by students prior to their learning whether they will selected for fellowship support.  The reasoning here is that for students whose interests match those of the program faculty, the curriculum is ‘its own reward.’  By interacting with one another and the faculty, trainees and potential trainees will learn concepts and techniques that will enable them to conduct outstanding research bearing on Common Themes in Reproductive Diversity.

Pre-doctoral Training

1.  Elements specific and unique to the Training Program (top)

The centerpiece of our training program consists of two courses, one entitled Concepts in Reproductive Diversity and the other entitled Techniques in Reproductive Diversity.  One or the other will be offered during the first semester of each year. Program Faculty from different home departments will act as organizers, and other program faculty will be in regular attendance. These courses will meet at the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior (CISAB), which has a long history of fostering interdisciplinary exchange.

In addition, all students will receive training in the ethical conduct of science.

The Concepts course, Concepts in Reproductive Diversity, is based on an enormously successful program already in place.  For the past 12 years, CISAB has offered A501, Seminar in Animal Behavior, each semester on rotating topics, and brought 155 visiting scientists to campus to interact with several generations of students.

As examples, topics for the Concepts course and possible primary organizers might include the following:

• Steroidal Regulation Of Gene Expression (Cherbas)
• Gonadotropins, Gene Expression, and Reproduction (Quirk)
• Neural Control Of Sex Differences In Adult Behavior (Smith)
• Steroidal Influences on the Reproductive Behavior of Human Females (Heiman)
• Steroidal Influences on The Reproductive Behavior of Non-Human Females (Ketterson)
• Pheromonal and Steroidal Influences on Reproductive Development and Expression (Novotny)
• Hormones and Coordinated Development Of Behavior and Morphology (Moczek)
• Development of Sexual Behavior, Sexual Orientation, and Sexual Identity (Sanders)
• Neuronal Plasticity in Reproductive Development and Function (Sengelaub)
• The Evolution of Sexual Reproduction (Lively)
• The Evolution of Sex Differences (Wade)
• Seasonality as a Developmental Problem (Demas)
• Parental Behavior and Ontogenetic Transitions (Alberts)
• Maternal Effects and Early Development (Brodie)
• Bioinformatic Approaches To Courtship Behavior (Martins)
• Social Learning, Social Intelligence, Social Brains (Alberts)

The goal of these classes is to apply research expertise in a larger context by providing a history of related issues, a set of carefully selected readings, and access to visiting scientists, all of which will underscore the major advances that led to the current state of understanding in any particular area. These classes are also designed to help students identify important unanswered questions that could form the basis of significant student research projects, as they design their own projects in solo and in collaborative configurations.

For an example from earlier semesters, see http://www.indiana.edu/~animal/academics/seminars/A501_F01.html

The techniques course, Techniques in Reproductive Diversity, will enable students to gain research skills necessary to their success, e.g., gene arrays, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, evolutionary theory, parentage analysis, bioinformatics, field methods. During the autumn of 2006 the course, organized by Ellen Ketterson, attracted 16 students and is being taught by 15 faculty and post-doctoral researchers representing the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Gender Studies, and Psychological and Brain Sciences, as well as the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior and the Kinsey Institute. For a syllabus see
http://www.indiana.edu/~kettlab/A501/A501schedule.pdf
and for a more complete overview of the course see http://www.indiana.edu/~kettlab/A501/index.html.

Future courses will be designed to reflect faculty expertise and student interests.

The ethics course, Research Ethics and Professional Development, will be completed early in training by enrolling in a one-semester course on professional ethics.  Program faculty member Ketterson teaches Professional Ethics for the Bio-behavioral Science (A502) inalternate years and with the assistance of CTRD and CISAB pre-docs and post-docs (http://www.indiana.edu/~animal/academics/seminars/A502_F02.html).

The class also draws on expertise provided by the staff of the Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions.

The course covers the basics regarding regulatory compliance and scientific misconduct, using the ‘case approach’ in which issues are addressed beginning with a simple hypothetical and then adding considerations to increase the ability of the students to draw fine distinctions.  

In addition to these essentials, the course covers student-mentor relations, data management, ownership, and access, bioethics, and conflicts of interest.  It is enriched by contributions from visiting faculty, e.g., Professor Holly Stocking from the School of Journalism who studies how best to convey scientific uncertainty to the public, and members of the Poynter Center on animal welfare and animal rights.

In addition to A502, some departments participating in CTRD have their own sequences, e.g. Psychological and Brain Sciences offers a 2-semester sequence.  While certain substitutions are allowed, all NIH trainees must receive training in research ethics.

2) Seminar series and informal forums (top)

Trainees will be expected to be regular participants in a number of forums that will enhance their ability to conduct outstanding research including those offered by their home departments and programs, as well as meetings in their home laboratories. The diligent trainee will have at least 5 seminars a week from which to choose.

In the past, A500, Introduction to Animal Behavior or Animal Behavior Lunch has met 2 times per month to provide an opportunity for students and post-docs to present their own work.  We are still in the process of determining how often we will meet informally to discuss literature and home-grown research related to the training grant.  We anticipate weekly and bi-weekly small group meetings and monthly meeting of the entire program faculty and trainees.

In addition, each year CISAB holds a research symposium at which all CTRD trainees will present their research.

3) Program and departmental requirements (top)

IU is a first-rank research university and consequently all programs and departments emphasize research in their graduate training.   All have a preliminary exam, one or more weekly seminar series, a minimum number of distribution requirements, and an expectation of a thesis based on original research.

Many of the CTRD Program Faculty are from Biology (Evolution Ecology and Behavior, EEB) or Psychological and Brain Sciences (Biology of Behavior, B&B). (Click on the links in the previous sentence to see sample curricula for these 2 programs.)

In addition to their departmental requirements, all graduate students need to complete a minor, and trainees will be expected to minor in Animal Behavior or Human Sexuality.

Students should note that the requirements for these minors overlap with those of home departments and programs, so can often be completed without adding appreciably to your course requirements.

Note to Postdoctoral Trainees. (top)  

All elements of the training program will be open to post-doctoral trainees.  Post-docs will rarely elect to take classes for credit, but we do require that they participate in and contribute to the Concepts and Techniques courses, and assist in the teaching of the Professional Ethics for the Bio-behavioral Sciences. 

CISAB regularly offers informal sessions on a regular basis that stress professional skills, e.g., how to review a research proposal or manuscript, how to write a letter to apply for a job, how to prepare a job seminar, or how to negotiate for a position,  These sessions will be of particular use to post-doctoral trainees seeking permanent positions. Post-doctoral trainees will be asked to serve as role model researchers sharing their advice and their talents with younger students and while becoming more effective mentors themselves.