A Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Summer Research Program in Biology

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Bradley University has a long-standing commitment to teaching excellence. Close faculty-student relationships that stress shared scholarship are central to the mission. The Biology Department has exemplified this shared partnership in education and research through a vigorous research-rich curriculum. Interdisciplinary research experiences run throughout the curriculum, both in and out of the classroom, and every faculty member is an active research mentor. Also central to the mission is community service; thus this project accepts a high proportion of students as transfers from local two-year community colleges. These students are at a disadvantage, however, when they enter our research-intensive curriculum without substantial prior investigative experience. The faculty will implement a 10-week summer research program that integrates research opportunities and education in research methodologies. This program will be comprehensive, encompassing the culture, theory and practice of science, to foster intellectual independence in scientific research, regardless of prior research exposure. Individual research projects will encompass a variety of lines of biological investigation in different experimental systems, providing opportunities for broad interdisciplinary discussions among students and faculty mentors. The recruiting will be heavy from institutions with limited undergraduate research opportunities, particularly local community colleges that supply a high number of transfer students into the curricula. Finally, the faculty has developed a recruitment team and strategy to assure significant minority participation in the summer research program with the expectation that this experience will increase the recruitment and retention of minorities in undergraduate science programs.