"Undergraduate Research Participation: Collaborative Cross Disciplinary Research in Biology"

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This award provides funds to establish an NSF-REU Sites project in the Department of Biology at Boston University for ten students. Past experience has shown that NSF awards for undergraduate research have stimulated many previous participants to become productive scholars. Six cross- disciplinary, team-oriented projects will provide each group of two students with the opportunity to work closely with two experienced faculty mentors on a common project. The emphasis on the REU site project is to promote research interactions between students and research biologists whose disciplines are traditionally focused on different sub- disciplines in Biology. Collaborative research topics include: the effects of heavy metal uptake on reproduction in dogfish shark, regulation of neurotransmitters during development, intensity of selection in environmentally induced mutations, establishment of cell lines from endangered species, adrenocortical activity in captive bats, and mechanisms of gene induction in retinal cells. Faculty mentors have been carefully selected on the basis of their experience in the classroom, research contacts with undergraduates, and their own research contributions. The participating faculty mentors have a broad spectrum of research interests and are represented by both beginning and establish investigators. Qualified undergraduates will be recruited mostly form regional four-year colleges that do not provide significant opportunities for research and from Boston University. The Program will recruit five students from local and regional colleges and five from Boston University. Recruitment efforts will specifically target minority, women, and physically challenged students. Selection procedures will be based on scholarly aptitude, research potential, and previous experience. Students will be expected to live on the university campus and to participate in the full range of research opportunities, weekly discussions, and social gatherings to foster a sense of community among students and faculty mentors. A special ethics component will focus on issues such as standards of scientific integrity, authorship responsibility, information privacy and protection, ethical treatment of animals, alternative animal models, conflict of interest, and plagiarism.