This REU Site award to The Scripps Research Institute, located in Jupiter, FL, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2014-2016. This award is supported by both the Directorates for Biological Sciences (Division of Biological Infrastructure) and Mathematical and Physical Sciences (Division of Chemistry). The Scripps Research Institute in Florida has a focus that integrates cutting edge bioscience research with the development of chemical tools to probe basic biological questions. Students can join any of six departments -- Cancer Biology, Chemistry, Infectious Diseases, Metabolism and Aging, Molecular Therapeutics, and Neuroscience -- where they will find themselves working at the interface between chemistry and biology. The REU experience will provide a diverse group of students with mentored training in scientific research at a top graduate program in the country, professional development opportunities focused around graduate school, including ethics training, and guided training in scientific presentation. These efforts will culminate in a campus-wide poster session, where the participants will present their findings and will be encouraged to present their results at a regional or national scientific meeting. Participants will be selected for participation based on their academic record, letters of reference and a statement of purpose.
The location of The Scripps Research Institute in South Florida means it is well positioned to recruit students from several underrepresented groups. Undergraduates with an interest in science will have access to internationally renowned scientific research programs that will foster their interest in science by immersing them in project design, data collection and analysis, and presenting results.
The effectiveness of this program will be monitored by program evaluations including the BIO REU Sites common assessment tool and students are required to be tracked after the program and must respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information is available by visiting http://education.scripps.edu/undergraduate/flreu/index.html, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Karbstein at kkarbst@scripps.edu) or the program administrator (Mrs. Leach-Scampavia at leach@scripps.edu).
