The REU Program in Molecular Biosciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers undergraduate students the opportunity to carry out mentored research in the areas of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, cellular biophysics, structural biology, computational biology, genetics, genomics and proteomics. Each summer, 10 rising junior or senior undergraduate students come to UNC-CH for a 10-week summer research and professional development experience. Most participants are selected from colleges and universities that lack strong research programs in molecular biosciences, from under-represented minority groups, and from first-generation college students. Students carry out research side-by-side with faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in a highly collaborative environment. Students are full participants in their projects, from planning and executing experiments to presenting their results to their peers. Modern research into processes within living cells is increasingly an interdisciplinary enterprise in which investigators from multiple disciplines collaborate to solve important and complex questions. A weekly journal club helps the students develop analytical skills and is the venue through which interdisciplinary approaches to scientific questions are introduced. REU students are informed of careers and career paths in biomolecular research and teaching, and instructed on how to choose, apply to, and interview for, graduate school. A novel feature of the program is the use of trained graduate student mentors in selected activities. The program ends with a symposium and poster session that celebrates the students' accomplishments. Further information is available at www.med.unc.edu/pmbb/reu/index.htm or by contacting reu@med.unc.edu.
The overall goal of the REU Program in Molecular Biosciences at UNC-Chapel Hill was to encourage promising undergraduate students to enter careers in research and teaching in the biomolecular sciences. The mechanism for attaining this goal was to provide a mentored research and professional enrichment experience for a group of undergraduate students at a time when they were making critical career decisions. During the 10-week research experience students carried out research side-by-side with graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty who serve as role models and as mentors as they learned how modern biological research is designed, executed, and reported. Students also participated in a variety of professional development activities designed to hone their critical thinking skills and to make them stronger candidates when they applied to graduate school. The majority of our students were recruited primarily from institutions that do not grant the Ph.D. in STEM subjects, from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and other traditional minority-serving institutions. First generation college students are also strongly recruited. Intellectual Merit: As a Research I university, UNC-Chapel Hill provided REU-MBS students with opportunities to work on ongoing funded research projects under the direction of nationally or internationally renowned scientists. Work done by these students contributed to furthering the research projects of these labs; indeed several of our students co-authored papers in peer-reviewed journals as a result of their work during the program. Through its emphasis on multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches the program advanced discovery and knowledge while preparing participants for the type of scientific research that will dominate the 21st century. Broader Impacts: Over the 2008 – 2011 funding period, REU-MBS at UNC-Chapel Hill was highly successful in recruiting its target group of students. During this period we trained 30 students including 4 African American students, two Hispanic students, two Native American students, and 12 first generation college students. Only 5 of these students were from Ph.D.-granting institutions. Thus we provided research and educational opportunities for students who did not have these opportunities at their home institutions. The research experiences and professional training provided to these students contributed to the success of these students in pursuing post-baccalaureate education. Twelve of the students who completed our program have enrolled in highly competitive graduate programs, three have enrolled in medical school, and another five will enter graduate school in the fall of 2011. By targeting minority and first-generation college students from small colleges and universities without significant research capacity, the program promoted diversity in the science workforce and helped to broaden participation of these groups in careers in science. Overall the program has contributed to the development of a trained science workforce that is highly diverse with regard to ethnicity and socioeconomic background.
