Until now, advancements in theoretical neurobiology have relied critically on collaborations among researchers specializing in the separate disciplines of neurobiology, mathematics, physics, computer science or engineering, who each bring a unique technical expertise to bear on the research task at hand. Our program attempts to produce the theoretical neurobiologist of the future who will have a depth of expertise in a broad range of disciplines. His or her ability to integrate approaches and techniques from several areas will accelerate the advancement of the field.
The Sloan predoctoral program is closely connected to the Computation and Neural Systems Program at Caltech. All Sloan predoctoral fellows are students in this program. However, their theses must contain significant theoretical as well as experimental components. The students choose both a major and a minor thesis advisor, one specialist in a theoretical field and the other in experimental neurobiology, rather than the usual one advisor. The other requirements are the same as for the Computation and Neural Systems program.