Talent Expansion in Quantitative Biology

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The Departments of Mathematics and Biological Sciences at East Tennessee State University are working in partnership to immerse three cohorts of entering freshmen (20 students each year) in a new four-year research-intensive curriculum in quantitative biology. Students are recruited as majors into either department from those who declare themselves as "undecided" and, in each case, enter a Quantitative Biology track. Features of the program include: an interdisciplinary bridge program (to be taken between the students' senior year in high school and freshman year in college) that includes an introduction to early research opportunities; participation in appropriate research projects during the freshman, sophomore and junior years and placement in external Research Experiences for Undergraduates or internships at the end of their third year; and mentoring throughout the undergraduate years with involvement of advanced undergraduates in the mentoring process. The project is creating a cadre of students who are adept at functioning at the confluence of the mathematical, biological and computing sciences. The INTELLECTUAL MERIT of the project is that it seeks to graduate sixty majors in a high-demand non-traditional concentration, namely quantitative and computational bio/medical science. It gains its strength from a new curriculum that aggressively discards many traditionally required courses, while placing research squarely into the center stage of all activities.The BROADER IMPACTS of this activity are that it creates a pipeline to the many careers and graduate programs in Computational Science, Informatics, Mathematical Biology, Neuroscience, etc. across the nation; and that it involves and helps promote a clear career path for an underserved population of students.