UChicago Neuroscience Early Enrichment and Training Opportunity (NEETO)

Program Details

Duties and Responsibilities

Each summer, 2-4 students and one teacher (from the same high school) will be awarded NEETO Fellowships. NEETO Fellows will spend 2 weeks, full-time in the Carrillo Lab. Students and teachers will be exposed to several areas of biology and various experimental techniques for half the day by visiting several UChicago labs including the Heckscher, Ozkan, Malamy, Ragsdale, and Kronforst labs. The other half of the day will be spent in the Carrillo lab building a system that allows for examining locomotion of a variety of organisms. This system, called PiVR, will expose students to 3D printing, circuit board construction, computer programming, and facilitate inquiry-based hypotheses that can be directly tested. After successful construction of the system, students will use it to test for locomotion defects in Drosophila melanogaster (the fruit fly). The Carrillo lab uses these organisms to study nervous system development so students and teachers will directly contribute to ongoing research. On the last day of the program, students will give a presentation to the Carrillo lab and colleagues describing their work during the two weeks. In addition, teachers will take the PiVR system back to their classrooms to engage more students in inquiry-based curriculum.

Requirements for Students

        • Some basic biology or neuroscience courses preferred
        • Minimum GPA of 3.0
        • Able to devote 2 weeks during the summer to the program (mid-late June)
        • Have proof of valid COVID-19 vaccination
        • Able to commune to University of Chicago Hyde Park Campus (920 E. 58th st) during the 2 weeks
        • Preference will be given to 11th grade students (at time of applying), with exceptions made for 10th grade students

Requirements for Teachers

        • Be a CPS certified science teacher
        • Be able to devote two weeks during the summer to the program (mid-late June)
        • Have proof of COVID-19 vaccination

Required Materials

For Students

To apply to NEETO, applicants must prepare the following documents and submit them via Google docs (your teacher will provide instructions):
                  • Cover letter: Please explain why you’re interested in NEETO and science in general
                  • Transcript from your high school (school admin can email the transcript directly to Robert Carrillo if needed). This can be an unofficial transcript
                  • A brief letter from your science teacher describing why they think you’d be a good fit for this program

For Teachers

                  • Cover letter stating your interest in the program and your willingness to devote two weeks during the summer
                  • CV/Resume

Compensation

NEETO student fellows will receive a $1,000 stipend and some travel compensation if necessary.

NEETO teacher fellows will receive a $3,200 stipend.

Application Due Date

 

Applications, including recommendation letters, must be submitted by April 1st, 2022

 

Questions

 

If you have any questions about NEETO, please email Robert Carrillo (robertcarrillo@uchicago.edu).

 

Personnel

 

Dr. Robert Carrillo

Assistant Professor

NEETO Program Director

Contact

robertcarrillo@uchicago.edu

Luciano Simonetta

1st Year DRSB Student

NEETO Activities Supervisor

Contact

lsimonetta@uchicago.edu

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