This award supports a three-year collaborative research project between Professor Jon Roll of the University of Wisconsin in Madison and Professor Chalobon Yoosook at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand. They will organize an International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program in microbiology and molecular biology. Each year for three summers five U.S. undergraduate students will travel to Thailand to work with Thai students and faculty. The main goal of the program is to attract and stimulate motivated students to pursue careers in research by providing them with a unique, international, hands-on experience. This will aid in ensuring that the US remains at the forefront of world science and technology by providing an educated science workforce capable of operating in the international research environment and in a global market.
This IRES will provide the students with an international experience in Thailand, a country with world-class research personnel and facilities in molecular biology and microbiology. They will study topics unique to South-east Asia. This experience will allow the students to engage in sophisticated research projects while developing an appreciation for how microbiology and molecular biology is taught, spoken, done and presented in another culture. It will also help forge relationships between young researchers from both the US and Southeast Asia in the early stages of their careers. Through this high-level program, students will go from general course work to independent research, experiencing the excitement of discovery, developing intellectual maturity, and broadening their vision of biology.
