Marie Curie TrackDev

Tracking Early Human Development: From Basic Science to Applications

Funded by the EC Marie Curie Initial Training Networks: FP7-PEOPLE-2010-ITN PART B

Grant Number: 264301

Overview

The project provided a structured PhD training programme to prepare Early Stage Researchers for a career in public or private sector research in early developmental cognitive neurosciences. A unique feature of the project was the extensive participation of private sector partners from the technology, manufacturing and services industry in an emerging discipline that does not yet normally interact with the private sector.

The project was primarily based at the Centre For Brain and Cognitive Development (CBCD) which holds Marie Curie Centre of Excellence in Training status, awarded by the European Commission.

Aims

The project aimed to provide the highest quality training while generating new knowledge of an international calibre. It is also intended to bridge the gap between basic research and the private sector commercialisation of discoveries. In tandem with the above it was hoped that young researchers would be encouraged to pursue careers in research in the public and private sectors. Since completion of the project all of the researchers have found research jobs in the sector.

Scientific Goals

The primary scientific aim of the project was to chart the impact that biological, and more specifically neuroscientific, constraints have on the way learning and development can unfold. The project explored the interacting effects of six different constraints:

  • Gene-behaviour relations
  • The role of endogenous activity in neural development
  • Statistical neural information processing
  • Interactive specialisation
  • Embodiment
  • Socialisation