• Make recommendations for Council and committees on how Society initiatives, projects, and programming can be designed, enhanced, or modified to address the needs and concerns of the Society's trainee members.
• Track the state of the Society's efforts to support neuroscience trainee development and monitor the effectiveness of SfN programs in reaching trainees.
• Ensure effective and appropriate communication with all parties about neuroscience trainee needs.

The Trainee Advisory Committee is part of the Membership Engagement Committee Cluster, which also includes the Global Membership Committee.

The Trainee Advisory Committee will provide input and guidance to SfN Council and committees on issues that are central to the younger SfN member experience and the concerns of trainees. The Committee's goal is to assist the Society in supporting neuroscience trainee development and enhancing the trainee members' experience.

Advise and Recommend

• Make recommendations for Council on how Society initiatives can be designed, enhanced, or modified to address the needs and concerns of the Society's trainee members.
• Make recommendations for committees on how Society projects and programming can be designed, enhanced, or modified to address the needs and concerns of the Society's trainee members.
• Provide input on policies on Student and Post-Doc membership initiatives, benefits, categories, and fees.

Monitor

• Track the state of the Society's efforts to support neuroscience trainee development.
• Monitor the effectiveness of SfN programs in reaching trainees.

Coordinate and Communicate

• Ensure effective and appropriate communication with all parties about neuroscience trainee needs.
• Coordinate activities with the other committees serving the needs of neuroscience trainees.
• Facilitate communications, outreach, and feedback to SfN from the Student and Postdoc community.
• Help disseminate information on the graduate student and postdoctoral fellow travel awards.

The Committee will be comprised of student and postdoc members. Committee members will serve a three-year term. The Chair must be a postdoc member, or equivalent position, who should have previous experience on the committee and will serve a two-year term. Committee members and the Chair are recommended by the Committee on Committees and approved by Council. Committee members and the Chair must be a student or postdoc at time of appointment; if a member's status changes (i.e., becomes a regular member) during the course of their term, that member may remain on the Committee for the duration of their initial term.

The Committee will meet twice per year, including once during SfN's annual meeting and once usually in the spring season. Additional work of the Committee is conducted by e-mail and scheduled conference calls throughout the calendar year to address issues that arise between meetings of the full Committee.