Trainee responsibilities
Trainees participate in all elements of the NeuroTech program, including courses and workshops. In addition, trainees are expected to be contributing members of the NeuroTech community by:
- attending seminars, donor events and trainee meetings
- presenting their work to the community
- taking an active role to assist ongoing programs and community development through participation in student leadership opportunities
Trainees may join the laboratory of any faculty who is a Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Affiliate, however their primary research focus must be in neurotechnology—developing or applying cutting-edge technology to produce advances in experimental neuroscience.
To remain a trainee in good standing, all NeuroTech trainees are required to submit an annual progress report that demonstrates progress on their research and their commitment to the training goals of the program. Each progress report will be reviewed by a faculty member on the trainee oversight committee. Progress reports are due mid-summer starting after the first year; you will receive information about how to submit your progress report from the training program coordinator in early summer
Funding
Travel, Research & Professional Development Funds
NeuroTech trainees are awarded $2,500 per year for two years to use for travel and/or research. Funds do not roll over. Any unused funds from the first or second year will revert to the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.
Travel/Research/Professional Development Fund requests must directly support the trainee’s research and/or professional development
PRE-APPROVAL requests are REQUIRED before making any travel arrangements, purchases or seeking any reimbursement. You will NOT get reimbursed if these policies are not followed or if pre-approval was not granted prior to your reimbursement request—no exceptions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRAVEL:
PRE-APPROVAL
- Before making any travel arrangements, seek pre-approval from Zulema Garibo, Training & Fellowships Program Coordinator. Please submit your request via this Pre-Approval Request Google Form
- Please allow for three business days to review your request.
- After review, you will receive an email from the program coordinator to let you know you have been pre-approved and can continue with your travel arrangements.
- If for any reason we cannot pre-approve your request, you will be informed via email.
AIRFARE
- It is HIGHLY ENCOURAGED that you use STANFORD TRAVEL to book airfare and lodging. For travel that cannot be booked through Stanford Travel, visit the Airfare and Lodging pages for more information.
- Stanford prefers you use the four channels offered through the Stanford Travel Program: Egencia, KeyTravel, StudentUniverse, or United Corporate Direct. (Airline/booking website of your choice is allowed, but Stanford Travel Program is preferred.)
- The university will reimburse economy class that allows for changes to the flight.
- Travel period may begin one day before the event and end one day after the event.
- If you choose to arrive earlier or stay longer for non-business reasons, that is okay, but the expenses incurred in those additional days will NOT be reimbursed.
- If you choose to arrive earlier or stay later, you must submit a comparison flight ticket. Stanford will only reimburse you for the cost of the least expensive flight.
- If you choose to arrive earlier or stay longer, please let us know of those plans when you ask for pre-approval because we have to document it.
- You MUST book the most DIRECT ROUTE even if it's more expensive. If no direct route is selected, you must submit a justification for the flight selection and a flight comparison with the cost of the most direct route.
- Stanford will be able to reimburse you only for the most direct route flight comparison cost if justification is not sufficient for the travel and reimbursement office.
LODGING
- Stanford highly encourages you and prefers that you book hotels through the Stanford Travel program as well. However, other booking methods are acceptable as well.
- Airbnb is acceptable
- Conference hotels are also acceptable at the conference hotel rate
MEALS
- Can be reimbursed per diem (calculated based on location).
- If the per-diem option is selected, no itemized receipts will be necessary at the reimbursement stage.
- Please let us know if your conference serves any meals and the days they were offered, as these will be discounted from the per diem rates.
- Meals can also be reimbursed per itemized receipt for each meal of the day (breakfast, lunch, dinner).
- If you select this option, all itemized food receipts will need to be submitted at the reimbursement stage.
TRANSPORTATION
- Uber is the best/preferred method of ground transportation.
- All transportation must be relevant to your business travel.
- You will not get reimbursed for leisure travel/transportation.
- You must document TO and FROM where you used Uber, shuttle, train, etc.
- Car rentals will NOT be reimbursable unless pre-approved in advance with a legitimate justification.
UPON RETURN
- Please submit all necessary documentation via this REIMBURSEMENT REQUEST Google Form
- Documentation should include:
- Airfare receipt and itinerary
- Lodging/hotel receipt
- Meal receipts, if applicable, or let us know if you are choosing per diem
- Conference registration in PDF
- Conference program/agenda in PDF
- Transportation receipts with the TO and FROM destinations noted
- Conversion sheet, if applicable, for foreign expenses
Please use the Stanford approved conversion website: Oanda
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PURCHASES:
PRE-APPROVAL
- Before making any purchases, seek pre-approval from Zulema Garibo, Training & Fellowships Program Coordinator. Please submit your request via this Pre-Approval Request Google Form
- Please allow for three business days to review your request.
- After review, you will receive an email from the program coordinator to let you know you have been pre-approved and can proceed with your purchase.
- If for any reason your request cannot be pre-approved, you will be informed via email.
METHOD OF PURCHASE:
- Stanford prefers that trainees use the Stanford SmartMart catalogs, iProcurement, and Amazon Business for any purchases. With this method, you will not pay out of pocket and we will manage the ordering for you.
- *PLEASE NOTE: laptops and iPads MUST be purchased through Stanford systems. Paying out of pocket and submitting a receipt for reimbursement is NOT an option for the purchases of laptops and/or iPads.
COMPUTERS/LAPTOPS/ELECTRONIC DEVICES
- Per Stanford policy, all computers and/or computing devices purchased through the NeuroTech Research/Travel/Professional Development funds are property of Stanford University, and therefore, will need to be encrypted by Stanford IT in order to be in compliance with the University’s policies. At the end of the trainee’s time at Stanford, should the trainee wish to take the device(s) with them, they will have to independently submit a request for transfer of ownership and pay the associated fees to be able to legally own the device.
- iPads are generally not allowed unless trainees can clearly articulate why they are essential to their research. Please note that only one computing device is allowed per trainee (either one laptop or one iPad).
OTHER PURCHASES
Purchase requests must directly support the trainee’s research and/or professional development. The following items are not allowed: personal desk or chair, monitors, calculators, mouse/mouse pads, keyboards, notetakers, protection warranties, software subscriptions.
REQUESTING REIMBURSEMENT:
- Please submit all receipts and/or necessary documentation to the program coordinator via this REIMBURSEMENT REQUEST Google Form.
- The receipt must be under your name and must show the last four digits of the credit card used. The receipt must also show that the item has been fully paid for and has been shipped.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can find the information above in a Google Doc with the policies here: