Workshop: Synthetic Biology Workshops for Interdisciplinary Teams of Undergraduate Faculty to be held Summers of 2012-2014 at Janelia Farm Conference Center (Ashburn, VA)

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This award to the Genomic Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) at Davidson College will provide training to faculty on synthetic biology. This project is supported by the Divisions of Biological Infrastructure (DBI), Molecular and Cellular Biosciences (MCB) and Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) within the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Divisions of Undergraduate Education (DUE) and Human Resource Development (HRD) within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources at the National Science Foundation. Three workshops on synthetic biology will be held during the summers of 2012-14, potentially impacting approximately 90 faculty members from 45 institutions. Biology and math/computer science faculty interested in integrating synthetic biology in their teaching, especially those at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), minority-serving institutions and other predominantly undergraduate colleges and universities, will be invited. Inclusion of synthetic biology in undergraduate biology curricula meets many of the objectives described in the Vision and Change report. Synthetic biology is an area of research which can attract students of diverse talents. It is also an area that can potentially spur new economic activity based on these new technologies. Of equal importance are the changes in biology curricula that would enable students to integrate more quantitative and analytical skills in their education and training. Workshop organizers have experience in conducting synthetic biology research with undergraduates and are members of the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT; www.davidson.edu/GCAT). GCAT will collaborate with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's (HHMI) Science Education Alliance (SEA). HHMI, which will provide substantial support for the workshop, will host the three workshops and provide lab space, housing, and food and registration logistics. The HHMI SEA staff will also develop pedagogical modules that the PIs will incorporate into the GCAT synthetic biology workshops. Assessment of these pilot modules will provide valuable feedback that will help SEA develop and refine synthetic biology teaching and research materials. GCAT provides an established communication network between many institutions of higher education and has a strong record of collaboration with minority serving institutions.