To enhance and expand undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) interdisciplinary education and research, Fisk University is designing three new undergraduate courses ? Biomathematics I and II and Bioinformatics ? to offer its students over the next three years. The infusion of focused funding from the National Science Foundation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities-Undergraduate Program (HBCU-UP) for these new courses creates a new interface between existing STEM courses in mathematics, biology and computer science. To meet the calculus need of biology students, the biomathematics courses focus on topics that have immediate relevance to understanding biological phenomena and introduce students to hands-on modeling of biological phenomena using relevant mathematical theory. Similarly, the bioinformatics course introduces students to hands-on computer science and information technologies essential for contemporary biology disciplines. Students will engage in faculty mentored summer research and professional development activities addressing unsolved research questions directly related to the topics covered in the three courses. This project establishes a strong interdisciplinary research base at Fisk University and brings a new awareness for quantitative research in biological sciences. The activities are expected to increase student interest in STEM-related fields, attract and increase retention at the undergraduate level and student progression in STEM disciplines to graduate studies, and serve as a possible replicable model for other institutions.
