Faculty Workshops

Beginning in 2026, The Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience will hold workshops every 2 years centered around designing, implementing and assessing neuroscience programs in undergraduate settings.  Host institutions will be selected 3 years prior to the workshop.  

FUN 2026 Workshop

We are excited to announce North Central College will host the FUN Workshop in 2026! Located in Naperville, Illinois, the mix of a central location, state of the art facilities, and close proximity to diverse entertainment options are highlights of the college and area. Organizers Drs. Maggie Gill and Michael Stefanik in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience have a strong history with FUN and workshop hosting. Their proposal was accompanied by well-established institutional and local support, including with strong collaborative tieswith past FUN workshop host, Dominican College. Together, this makes North CentralCollege a promising host for the 2026 FUN workshop. A big thank you to the organizersfor their excellent proposal and enthusiasm for hosting. We look forward to working with Dr. Gill and Dr. Stefanik and seeing you in Naperville in 2026!


FUN 2028 Workshop
We are pleased to announce Georgia State University (GSU) will host the FUN workshop in 2028!  This strong, interdisciplinary host team led by Dr. Sarah Clark is well-qualified to organize the FUN workshop.  As a designated Minority Serving Institution, GSU's role as host will contribute to the DEI goals of FUN, allowing our members to learn from the DEI efforts in place in this community.  The Atlanta area has many different entertainment and recreation options, and the location allows for accessible and varied transportation options for FUN members.


We extend our gratitude to the FUN education committee for their thoughtful work in the selection process, which includes co-chairs David Donley and Amy Jo Stavnezer, and members Alo Basu, Brinda Bradaric, Monica Gaudier-Diaz, Ashley Nemes-Baran, Andrea Nichols, Elaine Reynolds, Samantha Scudder, and Tari Tan.

Questions?

Please feel free to contact any of the members of the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience Education Committee

 

Previous Meetings:
  • At the 1st FUN workshop, held at Davidson College in 1995, participants developed four blueprints to guide faculty in their efforts to enrich the undergraduate science curriculum of their institutions by developing courses and programs in an interdisciplinary and marvelously fertile young science: Neuroscience.
  • At the 2nd FUN workshop, held at Oberlin College in 1998, participants used these blueprints as a foundation to explore cutting-edge laboratory exercises designed to serve as the basis for the development of investigative, discovery-based laboratory experiences and the steps involved in launching regional meetings emphasizing undergraduate neuroscience research.
  • At the 3rd FUN workshop, held at Trinity College in 2001, participants again explored laboratory exercises as well as simulations of synaptic transmission, and further examined issues in developing regional meetings emphasizing undergraduate neuroscience research.
  • At the 4th FUN workshop, held at Macalester College in 2005, in addition to exploring new laboratory experiences and development of leadership skills, the participants revisited the four original curricular blueprints that served as curricular models in neuroscience since 1995, and, to address the directions that neuroscience is headed in the coming decades, added a fifth curricular blueprint, neuroscience studies
  • The 5th FUN workshop was held at Macalester College in 2008.
  • The 6th FUN workshop was held at Pomona College in 2011
  • The 7th FUN workshop was held at Ithaca College in 2014.
  • The 8th FUN workshop was held at Dominican University in 2017 - It was a fantastic meeting thanks to the amazing roster of participants and presenters, the support of Dominican University, the backing of our wonderful sponsors (AD Instruments, INCF, Backyard Brains, and Neurobytes), and the tireless efforts of our programming committee.  The FUN doesn’t stop, though–the materials and videos generated from the meeting are all preserved on this website (click here), and we know that participants will carry forward the energy and ideas from FUN 2017 into their classrooms and beyond.
  • The 2020 workshop was to be held at Davidson College, but had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A Summer Virtual Meeting was held in an online-only format in July, 2020.
  • The 2023 workshop, titled Re-imagining Neuroscience Education, was held at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington from July 27 to July 30, 2023.  More details about the workshop can be found here


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