The NSF-REU program at the Roswell Park site presents upper-division science majors pre-graduate-school summer experiences. Participants are selected from applicants across the United States with an emphasis on the admission of underrepresented minority candidates and women. Selected graduate faculty members of the Roswell Park Division of the State University of New York at Buffalo serve as major advisors for the fifteen students admitted to the program. The scientific field that NSF REU participants enter is in the general area of molecular and cellular biology. Student efforts will be full-time in scope and offer a pre-graduate research experience in the lifestyle of a graduate student in the basic sciences. This is a key factor in a student's decision-making process before choosing a field of study and formally applying to graduate programs. The culmination of a 10-week laboratory experience is the student oral presentations in a Mini-Science Conference and poster session. Other experiences scheduled during the summer include attendance at the NSF distinguished seminar series, a career counseling sessions, and weekend cultural and social activities. Evaluation data demonstrate that such programs are highly effective in encouraging students to pursue scientific careers.
