This award, made to Rice University by the NSF Divisions of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) and Chemistry (CHE), in the Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO) and Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), respectively, will provide research training for 10 weeks for 10 students, during the summers 2010-2012. The focus of the program is biological networks -- the complex interactions among biomolecules that give rise to the diverse biological phenotypes observed in nature. The goal is to provide students first hand experience with cutting-edge interdisciplinary research that is needed to predict biological functions sufficiently in order to reprogram cells to avoid diseases or to perform new tasks. In the REU program, students will work on research projects under faculty mentors that draw from a range of approaches (classical biochemical and genetic to theoretical models that require computation) to study naturally-occurring genetic networks, artificial genetic and metabolic networks, and biomolecular structure, function, and evolution. This program will also provide: a creative opportunity for students to develop innovative biotechnological ideas; leadership development; seminars and career development workshops; stipend and travel support; on-campus housing; a capstone research poster symposium; and an ethics and responsible conduct of research discussion seminar. Students will be recruited nationwide, with particular emphasis on recruiting women and under-represented minorities, and selection of students will be done based on the faculty steering committee's evaluation of each applicant's transcript, personal statement regarding their interest and motivation for research, and recommendation letters. Assessment of this program is done via pre- and post-questionnaires as well by using the NSF-supported common assessment tool. More information on this program can be obtained online at https://ibb.rice.edu/ or by contacting Dr. George Bennett (Principal Investigator) or Lisa Blinn (Program Coordinator) at 713-348-4671 or lisa.s.blinn@rice.edu.
There are multiple challenges associated with improved training of the future generation of biological researchers.Strategies that simply focus on modifying undergraduate curriculum within the biological sciences have been limited in the pace at which they achieve their goals.Many students may not choose the more quantitative tracks that become available within their biological major because their excitement was not stimulated before they declared that major. Students that pursue such tracks may not obtain enough depth in a single physical science discipline to serve them well in their future careers. Once admitted to our program, each undergraduate trainee is assigned to a research mentor, whose lab they work induring the majority of the summer. In addition, they spend their Friday afternoons working in small groups,reading and presenting literature related to their research interests and developing ideas for a group project proposal.These groups consist of 3-4 undergraduate participants and at least two mentors, one with a strong experimental focusto their research and a second with a strong modeling focus in their research. These groups will work together to develop a proposal for a biological project (or biotechnological) that integrates the use of both in vitro and in silico approaches. We admit undergraduates with interests spanning diverse STEM disciplines (ranging from biology and chemistry tomathematics and computer science), so that students in both biological and non-biological disciplines are exposed to the excitement of biological research. Students are matched with faculty mentors whose research falls into one of the following three areas: i. biomolecular structure, function, and evolution, ii. molecular genetic studies of intermolecularnetworks, and iii. synthetic genetic and metabolic networks. We organize the student groups to contain a mix of students with interests in different disciplines, as well as a mix of students participating in summer research within labs using both theoretical and wet lab approaches. This fosters student-student interactions across disciplines and exposes students to the benefits and challenges required by today’s team approach to STEM projects. To ensure that participants are able to communicate about their biology projects and work together effectively, we have students attend lectures during the first week that provide them a basic foundation in genetic regulation and simple computer modeling of this genetic regulation. The goal of this training is to ensure that all participants in this program are able to effectively communicate about different aspects of research on biological networks. In addition, we have the intensive wetlab course this first week to provide the students with hands-on training in the basic molecular biological methods needed to participate in biological research. Interdisciplinary research is becoming increasingly important for scientific progress in biology and medicine, and there is a need to impart to undergraduates the skills that they will need to succeed in this type of research environment. Our program provides students with experiences collaborating and communicating as early as possible to help them succeed in their future STEM careers. The group projects within this REU site provide a unique creative outlet to achieve such goals because students have the opportunity to identify a problem that they feel is compelling, and they bring together their collective intellectual resources from their different research experiences to outline a plan for a biological research project. Typically undergraduates must decide by the end of their junior year whether to pursue a research-oriented graduate education, medical school or some other professional track. Thus, we have a responsibility to equip them with enough experience to make this choice knowledgeably and to learn how training in diverse STEM disciplines has tremendous value in biological research. We include sessions on graduate school and career options in STEM, as well as preparing applications to graduate school, all of which are led by faculty participants. . Finally, we hold a seminar at the beginning of the summer on preparing and presenting effective scientific posters and seminars, since students are asked to present their individual research project during the symposium at the end of the summer. Even though scientists spend a great deal of their careers in the laboratory or at their computers, it is essential that they be able to engage in scientific discussions. Undergraduates who seek careers in these fields must learn how to present their own work in an effective manner that engages others, and they need to communicate about where people should be expending their research energy, given the limited time and research funds that are available. Students attend a lunchtime workshop that teaches them to read scientific articles with a critical eye and discuss their critical evaluation. In addition, we have students participate in workshop that prepares them to give formal presentations on scientific material. In addition to giving students guidelines for these activities, the undergraduates are asked to work in groups to critique a scientific paper and poster, gaining practical knowledge in presentations.
