REU Site: Summer Research Experience in Investigative Biotechnology

西肯塔基州大学（WKU）生物系获得了一个奖项，将在2010-2012年夏季为10名学生提供为期10周的研究培训。 该研究项目重点关注调查生物技术的跨学科领域。学生根据他们的兴趣被分配到一个研究项目。这些项目由来自广泛学科（生物学，化学，数学和计算机科学）的教师导师指导，涵盖动物生理学，植物基因表达，微生物学，病毒学，生物化学，蛋白质结构和建模，生物信息学，神经生理学和数学生物学的广泛领域。学生将与他们的教师导师密切合作，并与研究生，博士后，本科生和研究技术人员互动。 WKU教师导师将提供指导，并促进讨论，在生物研究中的研究和道德问题的负责任的行为。此外，学生将受益于一系列研讨会研究生院的应用程序，赠款写作，并在该领域的专业文献。通过参与REU计划，学生将获得各种研究领域的知识，并培养他们为研究生学习做好准备的技能。一个主要目标是为来自研究生教育中代表性不足的群体或来自研究设施有限或没有研究设施的机构的本科生提供机会。与格鲁吉亚和亚拉巴马的四所历史上的黑人学院和大学、肯塔基州和田纳西州的两所服务于阿巴拉契亚地区的机构以及肯塔基州的一所社区学院建立伙伴关系，将有助于该方案招收学生。参与者将根据教师推荐，GPA，学生职业规划，学术准备和科学兴趣进行选择。计划评估将使用几种机制，包括NSF支持的通用评估工具，以及学生，教师导师和REU支持人员的输入。 计划的成功将通过跟踪学生的出版物和演示文稿，以及参加科学研究生院的学生人数来衡量。 为了跟踪长期成果，将使用社交网站（如Facebook）以及直接的电子邮件通信。欲了解更多信息，请访问http：//bioweb.wku.edu/，或通过shiv.sahi@ wku.edu联系主要研究者Shivendra Sahi博士。

An award has been made to the Department of Biology at Western Kentucky University (WKU) that will provide research training for 10 weeks for 10 students, for the summers of 2010-2012. The research program focuses on the interdisciplinary field of investigative biotechnology. Students are assigned to a research project based on their interests. The projects, directed by faculty mentors from a wide range of disciplines (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science), span broad areas of animal physiology, plant gene expression, microbiology, virology, biochemistry, protein structure and modeling, bioinformatics, neurophysiology, and mathematical biology. Students will work closely with their faculty mentor and interact with graduate students, post-docs, fellow undergrads, and research technicians. WKU faculty mentors will provide instruction in, and facilitate discussions of, the responsible conduct of research and ethical issues in biological research. Additionally, students will benefit from a series of workshops on graduate school applications, grant writing, and professional literature in the field. Through participation in the REU program, students will gain knowledge in a variety of research areas and develop the skills to prepare them for graduate studies. A major goal is to offer opportunities to undergraduates from groups underrepresented in graduate education or from institutions with limited or no research facilities. Partnerships with four Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Georgia and Alabama, two institutions serving the Appalachian region in Kentucky and Tennessee, and a community college in Kentucky will facilitate the recruitment of students to the program. Participants will be selected on the basis of faculty recommendation, GPA, student career plans, academic preparation, and scientific interests. Program evaluation will use several mechanisms, including the NSF-supported common assessment tool, and input from students, faculty mentors, and the REU support staff. Program success will be measured by tracking student publications and presentations, and the number of students who attend graduate school in the sciences. To track the long-term outcomes, social networking sites (like Facebook), as well as direct e-mail communication, will be used. More information is available by visiting http://bioweb.wku.edu/, or by contacting the PI, Dr. Shivendra Sahi at shiv.sahi@wku.edu.