Offered in Summer Term A, the Virtual Columbia Summer Global Bootcamp: Neuroscience of Consciousness is a new global program that gives enrolled students the opportunity to acquire first-person knowledge on the scientific method through the lens of the field of consciousness studies. Students will develop a network of international researchers with whom they will discuss how to design, conduct, and analyze research studies that draw on current state-of-the-art technological advancements in neuroscience.
Program Overview
The Global Virtual Bootcamp is a seminar-like course. The ultimate goal is to build a multidisciplinary cohort of students, and to give them an opportunity to enhance their training toward conducting research in a multicultural, multidisciplinary, and international setting.
Every week, the program will virtually visit different laboratories in different European countries-- France, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France. During these visits, the weekly activities of the Bootcamp will revolve around the six main components of the scientific method, namely: 1) observation and formulation of scientific question; 2) data collection; 3) data analysis; 4) accurate and transparent redaction of results; 5) high-level discussion of the findings; 6) future directions and societal relevance. Students will engage with the principal investigators (PIs) and post-doctoral researchers to discuss each topic.
All undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of disciplines and majors are welcome to apply.
Tentative Schedule (EST):
- Monday: PI talk (9 - 11am)
- Tuesday: Practicum (9 - 12pm)
- Wednesday: Lab Meeting (9 - 10am)
- Thursday: Class (9 - 11am)
On the seventh week of the program, students will meet in groups and work on their writing submissions to be submitted on the last day of the program, June 18th.
Eligibility and Application
- Open to undergraduate and graduate students in good academic standing.
- Previous basic knowledge of the nervous system (e.g., Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, Biology Departments) as well as a computational and statistical background (e.g., Computer Science, Statistics Departments) is recommended, but not required.
- Minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA.
HOW TO APPLY
Want to apply? Click the “Start Your Application" button at the top of this page. If the button doesn't appear above, the program is not yet accepting applications. You will be asked to set up a short profile, which will allow us to send you relevant information about your application. Once you’ve created a profile, you will see a checklist of items that you will need to submit. These generally include:
- Application questionnaire(s)
- Personal statement
- Official transcript(s)
- Resume
Hear from the Program Director
Quick introduction to the program:
Recorded information session:
Academics
All students are enrolled in the following course.
PSYC1902S: Neuroscience of Consciousness. 3 points.
Alfredo Spagna, Department of Psychology
Prerequisites: Recommended basic knowledge of the nervous system and familiarity with basic statistics concepts and programming languages.
This course fulfills the degree requirements for both the Neuroscience & Behavior and Psychology Majors.
Modern theories attempt to characterize the human mind in terms of information processing. But machines that process information do not seem to feel anything; a computer may for instance receive inputs from a video camera, yet it would be hard to imagine that it sees or experiences the vividness of colors like we do. Nobody has yet provided a convincing theory as to how to explain the subjective nature of our mental lives in objective physical terms. This is called the problem of consciousness, and is generally considered to be one of the last unsolved puzzles in science. Philosophers even debate whether there could be a solution to this problem at all.
Each week, students will be required to attend three events held on three different days: 1) a PI Talk (~ 2 hours), 2) a Post-Doc method tutorial (~3 hours), and a lab meeting (~1 hour), following the schedule detailed below:
Week 1: Theory
PI talk: Paolo Bartolomeo: How to formulate clear Scientific Questions.
Post Doc: Tal Seidel-Malkinson: Intracerebral recordings in Humans
Lab Meeting: Physiological Investigation of Clinically Normal and Impaired Cognition (PICNIC) Lab, Brain and Spine Institute, Paris, France
Week 2: Data Acquisition
PI Talk: Vito Giordano: Studying Fragility: acquiring data from extremely newborn babies born pre-term
Post Doc: Karin Pinchler: fMRI of kids born pre-term
Lab Meeting: Neuropsychological Outcome after Preterm Birth, University of Vienna, Austria
Week 3: Data Collection:
PI Talk: Athena Demertzi: Studying Unconsciousness: when consciousness fades away
Post Doc: Darwin. E. Martinez: functional connectivity alternations in consciousness disorders
Lab Meeting: GIGA Consciousness Lab, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Week 4: Results:
PI Talk: Gabriella Bottini: My Hand is not mine: Studying Distorted Body Representations
Post Doc: Gerardo Salvato: Neural correlates of body integrity dysphoria
Lab Meeting: Cognitive Neuropsychology Centre at Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy
Week 5: Discussion:
PI Talk: Ana Chica: the role of prefrontal cortex in conscious perception
Post Doc: Mar Martín-Signes: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Tractography
Lab Meeting: Attention and Consciousness Laboratory, Granada, Spain
Week 6: Future Directions
PI talk: Lionel Naccache: New methods to Monitor Consciousness
Post Doc: Cecile Eymond: Using Visual Illusion to study Eye tracking exploratory patterns
Lab Meeting: Physiological Investigation of Clinically Normal and Impaired Cognition (PICNIC) Lab, Brain and Spine Institute, Paris, France
Week 7: Project Completion
Group meetings to complete the assigned final project due at the end of the week.
Special Guests:
Dr. Paul Matusz from the Institute of Information Systems (HES-SO Valais Wallis)
Topics will include:
- The links between vision, attention and motor control in people with abnormal visual experience
- Measuring basic vision, attention and motor skills in non-standard conditions (including the use of EEG)
- The changes in vision, attention and motor skills with therapeutic games for lazy eye
This lecture will take place on June 15th, 8 AM - 11 AM EST.
Additionally, students will be required to 1) read a list of articles selected from a list of reading provided by the Program Director. The great majority of the readings will be made of the latest articles from the laboratory we will be visiting every week, ensuring that students will be prepared for the PI talk and Method session. Also, students will be required to submit a weekly reading response. 2) create a Manual of Best Practices in Neuroscience. The manual will be made of six different chapters, following the 6-weeks organization of the course. Enrollees will be divided into 6 groups, and each group will be assigned the responsibility to draft one chapter, therefore fostering interactions among students.
Students will be graded based on attendance to PIs Talk, Post Doc methods sessions, and Lab Meetings, their participation, the quality and depth of reflection in the weekly reading responses, and the quality of the work done in group to redact the chapter of the manual.
*Pending approval by the curriculum committee
The University reserves the right to withdraw or modify the courses of instruction or to change the instructors as may become necessary.
GRADES AND TRANSCRIPTS
Grading Policy
Click here for the Columbia summer program grading policies.
Transcripts
Upon successful completion of the program, grades are entered into Columbia's online grading system and students can request a Columbia University transcript. Non-Columbia students (including Barnard) can request electronic transcripts online through the Columbia University registrar.
No credit is granted to students who do not complete the full program.
Global Columbia Collaboratory
All participants in summer 2021 programs will have access to the Global Columbia Collaboratory, a non-credit virtual exchange experience that helps students learn more about global challenges, enhance their global competencies by connecting and cooperating across a global network, and empower students to make a difference in the world as global citizens. In the Collaboratory, students can engage with fellow students and the broader Columbia network to:
Participate in regularly scheduled theme-based global seminars from faculty and experts drawn from Columbia’s global networks;
Exchange perspectives and engage together in reflection on the global challenges framed by the global seminars; and
Engage in collaboration and ideation on projects and ideas that impact today’s society.
People
Program Director: Alfredo Spagna: as5559@columbia.edu
Alfredo Spagna, the program director of the Virtual Bootcamp, is a Faculty of the Psychology Department and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Neuroscience and Behavior Major. His teaches a variety of lecture and seminar courses for the Psychology Department, including Behavioral Neuroscience (UN2450), Human Neuropsychology (UN2490), Attention and Perception seminar (GU4229), Consciousness and Attention seminar (GU4225), and a newly created Human Neuroimaging Course (GU4990) that will be delivered starting Fall2020. His research interests span across different but related fields, including attention, perception, consciousness, and visual mental imagery and mainly on healthy adults. His involvement in international and national research grants is at the core of the Global Virtual Bootcamp, since enrollees will be visiting the labs in which the Program Director international research collaboration is ongoing.
Financial Considerations
2021 Tuition and Fees
Please see our cost breakdown for detailed information.
*Tuition and fees are charged to all students including Columbia students who are eligible to enroll in Columbia summer 2021 courses.
*Tuition and fees are subject to the Board of Trustees' approval and may change.
FINANCIAL AID AND SCHOLARSHIPS
If you are on financial aid, check to see if it can be applied to studying abroad. In general summer financial aid is not available to Columbia College or Columbia Engineering students, but may be available to School of General Studies students. Non-Columbia students should check with their home schools for funding availability.
For more general information and resources on financing your time abroad, please see the pages below:
WITHDRAWAL AND REFUND POLICY
If you decide to withdraw from the program once it has already started, please be aware of the financial consequences and the office policies by clicking here.