There are undergraduate research journals, symposiums and societies.
These resources are great insights to students' academic interests, but are sometimes too specific, with too much jargon.
As one just diving into a field, a new student may find these resources overwhelming and confusing.
The Johns Hopkins Neuroscience Journal Association for Young Scientists, also known as NeuroJAYS, provides a good compromise — insightful research journal readings with an approachable analysis for those who are still wondering whether to pursue neuroscience.
For sophomores Noah Guiberson and Lara Tromba, president and vice-president respectively, the club was formed purely out of an inconvenience.
As freshmen, both students wanted to take a neuroscience class with Dr. Linda Gorman, a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
The class was only available to juniors and seniors.
"We saw the need for an opportunity for freshmen and sophomores in neuroscience who didn't want to wait to take upper level classes," Guiberson said.
Both Guiberson and Tromba decided to attend Hopkins because of the university's commitment to undergraduate research and the reputation of its neuroscience program.
Both students are pre-med and would like to eventually attain their medical degrees and Ph.Ds. They both feel the resources at Hopkins will help them achieve their goals.
"The rock stars of neuroscience and biology are all at Hopkins," Guiberson said.
"Going here has been an amazing experience that the high school-me would not be able to believe.
"I work in a lab with a guy who will be giving a speech in Stockholm some day. One of my professors helped design Prozac. There's such a legacy of neuroscience research here."
They are both more interested in conducting research than becoming practicing doctors.
"I came here because of the opportunity to do research so early on. It's such an anomaly to have this opportunity at such a young age, and it's really unique to Hopkins," Tromba said.
Last spring, Guiberson and Tromba worked together to find a faculty adviser for the organization.
They quickly found support in Dr. Stewart Hendry, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience.
Finding early members, however, was a struggle.
"Last spring we could barely get 20 people," Guiberson said.
When Guiberson and Tromba represented the group at the student activities fair last Friday, over 100 students signed up – something that surprised the group's founders.
"For an academic club, that's absurd," Guiberson said.
The goal of the group is to allow students interested in neuroscience, majors and non-majors alike, to have an outlet to discuss research and journal articles.
Each week, Guiberson and Tromba post a journal article that will be discussed during the club meeting.
The group is gaining followers mainly through word-of-mouth.
Tromba and Guiberson started to talk about the club with their fellow sophomores before spreading information to other classes.
They have seen a tremendous amount of interest from the freshman class.
"We knew there would be a ton of interested freshmen who would otherwise not have the opportunity to join a club like this," Guiberson said.
For freshman Vanessa Markgraf, the club was a good way to explore a possible major.
"It allows undergrads to enter into conversations about new and fundamental neuroscience research without being intimidatied," Markgraf wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter.
"We all come with questions and leave with a broader depth of knowledge of neuroscience topics, such as language perception, where we will compare a fully-functioning brain to a developing one," she wrote.
The founders of NeuroJAYS are also trying to emphasize that this club is not just for neuroscience majors, but also for students who are questioning the major and for those who are simply interested in the research.
"Because it's not a commitment to a class, if someone doesn't know if they want to do neuro, they can explore whether they like it or not in a relaxed setting," Tromba said.
As for activities beyond discussing research, Tromba and Guiberson are still talking about other ways for the group to create a presence on campus.
"We're really building on member input," Guiberson said.
Tromba agrees that the future growth of the group will be based on a collaboration between its founders and members.
"Whatever our members want, that's the direction we'll take it," Tromba said.
Other goals for the group include increasing faculty involvement.
This is not only to beneft the students, but also to ask professors to explore their interests through NeuroJAYS as well.
"We're recruiting faculty members to discuss articles that aren't necessarily in their field," Guiberson said. "Common interest, but not common expertise."
While the momentum of the group was slow to start last spring, both Guiberson and Tromba are expecting NeuroJAYS to flourish within the Hopkins community.
"We never expected to have so much enthusiasm," Tromba said. "It's really the dream scenario."
Guiberson stresses the uniqueness of their program in comparison to other collegiate academic clubs.
"I don't think you could find a group like this at any other university in the country," he said. "
A lot of our excitement is being in this environment where these sort of endeavors were encouraged."
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