This REU Site award to Johns Hopkins University, located in Baltimore, MD, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2020- 2022. Participants will conduct research with faculty mentors from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and the School of Medicine that use cutting edge techniques. In addition to research, the program will include a "Foundations in Scientific Research and Methodology" course which will instruct participants on all aspects of research including responsible conduct of research, animal welfare, experimental design, statistical analysis and presentation of scientific data. The program also includes GRE preparation, poster presentations at a campus-wide student summer research conference and social activities with other summer research program students. Underrepresented minorities, first generation students and students from institutions with limited research opportunities are encouraged to apply. Students can apply online and are selected by a committee of faculty mentors. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily underrepresented groups from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program.
Research focuses on using comparative models and diverse taxa (bats, owls, octopuses, primates and/or rodents) for understanding animal social behavior. Areas of research include ethology, neurobiology and neuroendocrinology with projects that look at both how and why social behavior is produced. A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU Site programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. The combination of activities will serve to promote students' enthusiasm and confidence for science, provide experience in all aspects of conducting scientific research and develop a scientific foundation that will serve to maximize success in graduate school and beyond. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program is available by visiting https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/reu-social-behavior/, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Kirsten Bohn, kbohn1@jhu.edu).
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
