An award made to the Wadsworth Center will provide 10 weeks of research training for 10 undergraduate students, during the summers of 2011 - 2013. The training program focuses on collaborative networked approaches for undergraduate research in molecular genetics, cell biology, structural and computational biology, and neuroscience. The Center has more than 20 mentors guiding REU students in specifically designed, state-of-the-art collaborative research projects. The students will tackle the networked research projects in teams consisting of one fellow REU student, two individual mentors, as well as graduate students, postdocs, and other scholars in their laboratories. Students will perform full-time lab research and be introduced to exciting new research topics through a seminar series. They will also participate in training workshops that cover topics such as the responsible conduct of research, professional development and communication skills, and career opportunities in government, industry, and academia. Extensive national outreach efforts, combined with focused outreach to CSTEP programs at regional New York State community colleges, will ensure participation of underserved student populations. Student selection will be based on academic record, expressed interest in research, and potential for continued success in the biological sciences. The program will be assessed by various means, including use of the REU web-based common assessment tool, and participants will be tracked for the influence of the research experience in their academic field of study and career paths. More information is available by visiting www.wadsworth.org/REU, or by contacting the PI, Dr Sam Bowser, or the Program Director (Dr Keithly) at reu@wadsworth.org.
," was designed to support an immersive, 10-week research program for talented undergraduates with limited research opportunities. The intellectual focus was on collaborative biological research in cutting-edge scientific laboratories, which allowed the students to experience the application of multiple scientific methods to tackle complex biological research problems. The research projects were carefully designed to be achievable, and yet flexible enough to allow students to generate and test individual hypotheses themselves. The projects spanned a wide range of areas such as molecular genetics, cell biology, neuroscience, and structural and computational biology, thereby collectively providing a broad overview of research in biology to the student group. In addition to laboratory-based research, the program provided training in ethics, seminars from a diverse range of speakers in numerous fields of research. By pairing multiple students with a single mentor, or a single student with multiple mentors, the program illustrates how advances in biology come through both individual as well as team-based, multi-disciplinary collaborative research. Over four summers, 32 students were directly supported by this award. In addition, 9 students were supported by supplements to NSF grants to their mentors, and co-hosted with the REU students, and numerous other summer students were included in the umbrella summer program as well. Ten of the 41 NSF-supported students have already matriculated to graduate programs, and many of the remaining students indicate a desire to do so once their undergraduate studies are complete. Seven peer-reviewed journal articles have been published that include NSF-supported students as co-authors, and 12 of the students have presented their research at national conferences. In addition, two of our students have gone on to win prestigious Goldwater Scholarships to pursue their graduate careers.
