Carnegie Mellon University

NeuroSAC

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Created in 2014, NeuroSAC organizes educational outreach events and charity fundraisers on the CMU campus and in the surrounding community, promoting awareness of neuroscience-based careers and health issues. 

A full list of our upcoming events can be found here.  Our main activities are:

NeuroSAC members can often be found showing off fun gadgets such as a headband that measures brain activity, a controllable robot hand, and a device that allows passersby to move a friend's hand just by moving their own arm!  Through events such as SciTech Days at the Carnegie Science Center and demonstrations at CMU and local schools, we aim to inspire learning and encourage interest in the nervous system and the fields that study it.

Activities & Outreach

In collaboration with the Leonard Gelfand Center here at CMU, members of NeuroSAC participate in several outreach events.  These include:

We use several devices, mostly designed by Backyard Brains, including:

IMPULSE

CMU is proud to be a reviewer training site for IMPULSE: The Premier Undergraduate Neuroscience Journal.  IMPULSE is an international undergraduate neuroscience research journal, to which undergraduate students can submit manuscripts, both reviews and original research, for online publication.  At CMU as well as at other universities around the world, students critically read and discuss submissions throughout the year, offering suggestions to improve experimental legitimacy and clarity of each manuscript.  As peer reviewers, students learn valuable skills such as critical thinking and knowledge of neuroscience research methods that will benefit them in their undergraduate careers and beyond.

Nu Rho Psi

The purpose of Nu Rho Psi is to spread awareness of and education about neuroscience to the CMU campus and the greater Pittsburgh community, while providing the opportunity for outstanding neuroscience students to be recognized as part of a national honor society.  We also aim to foster professional connections between neuroscience students, faculty, and industry professionals, as well as to promote career development in neuroscience.

Our specific goals are to:

  1. Encourage professional interest and excellence in scholarship, particularly in neuroscience
  2. Award recognition to students who have achieved such excellence in scholarship
  3. Advance the discipline of neuroscience
  4. Encourage intellectual and social interaction between students, faculty, and professionals in neuroscience and related fields
  5. Promote career development in neuroscience and related fields
  6. Increase public awareness of neuroscience and its benefits for the individual and society
  7. Encourage service to the community

Eligible students are invited to join the chapter each semester based on their class standing and academic achievements in neuroscience-related coursework.  In general, students must be in their fourth semester and must have a 3.5 QPA in neuroscience coursework, with a 3.2 overall QPA.

Officers (May 2019 - April 2020)

President: Gjystina Lumaj
Vice President: Rose Pagano
Service Chair: Aisha Nazir
Treasurer: Jonathan Taylor
Secretary: Rea Isaac

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Natalie McGuier

More information

Check out our site on The Bridge