This NSF award will continue a successful REU program developed by University of Minnesota faculty over the past 20 years. For the next 3 years, participants will be recruited nationwide, particularly from minority-serving and other small colleges. Students come to Minnesota for a 10-week summer program, spending the 1st 3 weeks in an intensive 3-credit lab course at the Lake Itasca labs learning basic molecular biology techniques and at a Proteomics Workshop. Students then spend 7 weeks on the Twin Cities campus completing an independent research project using techniques learned in the course. Student projects are conducted under the direction of one of the more than 100 faculty members affiliated with the program. Supplemental activities include weekly student seminars and evening workshops designed to strengthen future applications for graduate studies. All students present their research results in a scientific poster at a symposium at the end of the program. Communal housing in campus dormitories and numerous social, cultural and recreational activities throughout the summer will foster the formation of strong personal and professional student-student and student-faculty bonds. Students are expected to gain confidence and increased desire to go to graduate school. Intensive exposure to the high quality research opportunities as well as the supportive and nurturing relationships with faculty mentors will motivate participants to pursue graduate studies. In addition, undergraduate students from all backgrounds and ethnicity will have the opportunity to interact with graduate student role models to further encourage those from diverse backgrounds to seek graduate school degrees. Over the long term, increased numbers of African American, American Indian and Hispanic students will be motivated to earn graduate degrees in basic life science disciplines and eventually to become members of the faculty at colleges and universities or leaders in the private sector. More information is available at www.cbs.umn.edu/main/summer_research/.
