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Mission

The Interdepartmental Nutrition Graduate Program (INP) program aims to strengthen graduate education in nutrition science at Purdue University and to foster interdepartmental and interinstitutional nutrition research across multiple disciplines among the participating faculty.

Program Goals

  1. To broaden and enhance graduate student training by:
    • Providing a core of courses representative of the broader aspects of nutrition represented by INP.
    • Offering the opportunity to broaden and individualize each student’s plan of study by drawing from a selection of graduate-level courses from all departments involved in INP.
    • Making interdepartmental faculty guidance in research planning available, encouraging more creative interdisciplinary research.
    • Keeping students abreast of recent developments in nutrition science through an INP seminar which brings together leaders in all aspects of the nutritional sciences, as well as interdepartmental student seminars, journal clubs, etc.
  2. To foster interdepartmental research by:
    • Defining areas in which fundamental or applied research is lacking and focusing on high-priority research projects.
    • Encouraging collaborations among members of the various training groups.
    • Identifying and employing resources which can be used in cooperative research projects.

Governance

Liaison Committee:

Membership: The Liaison Committee consists of the INP director (chair) and heads of departments that have three or more faculty participating in INP.

Responsibilities: The committee oversees the operation of the INP. The group will meet annually in the fall semester.

Executive Committee:

Membership: The Executive Committee consists of the INP director plus four representatives, with a maximum of two from any one of the four current training groups. Representatives will be elected by INP faculty members. Members will serve three-year terms. Elections will occur by the end of September when needed.

Responsibilities: The committee will make decisions pertaining to the operation of INP, such as election of committee membership, development of program priorities, etc.

Education Committee:

Membership: The Executive Committee will appoint four INP faculty members for three-year terms, with no more than two from each of the training groups. Committee membership will be established by the end of February each year with the term year beginning March 1. The Executive Committee will appoint one INP graduate student for a one-year term, with the term beginning March 1.

Responsibilities: The committee will develop core course requirements and coordinate INP courses and the development of new courses within the INP.

Admissions Committee:

Membership: The INP director will appoint an admissions committee chair who will recruit committee members from the INP faculty membership. The committee will be structured similarly to an NIH review; each committee member will review up to 15 applications and each application will be reviewed by 2-3 committee members. As a result, the number on the committee will be dependent on the number of applications.

Responsibilities: The committee will review applications, prioritize applicants based on objective criteria and advise the INP director regarding applicant visits, admissions and funding decisions.