The goal of this project is to upgrade the biological and technical training of women undergraduates through the improvement of their light-microscopy laboratory curricula. A major thrust of the project is to enable students to view living organisms and tissues, and to learn modern techniques for the examination and evaluation of living cells, cell processes and structures. The addition of phase, polarized and fluorescence capabilities, and of stereo and invited microscopes, increases the level of instructional sophistication and significantly upgrades the technical proficiency of emerging students. The new microscopes upgrade the entire departmental curriculum, greatly expanding the range of laboratory experiments available in each laboratory offering, and broadening independent student research program, thus making the women scientists emerging from this department more competitive in today's competition for graduate school admission and for places in the scientific/technological labor market. The grantee institution is matching the NSF award with an equal sum obtained from non-Federal sources.
