REU Site: Sensing and Signaling in Biological Systems

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A Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Sites award has been made to the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) that will provide research training for 10 students, for 10 weeks during the summers of 2012- 2014. This "Sensing and Signaling" program, supported by both the NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Department of Defense ASSURE program, focuses on a variety of experimental approaches, including computational biology, structural biology, neurobiology, cell biology and genetics, to study the ways organisms sense environmental cues and adapt to their surroundings. Faculty from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular and Cell Biology will serve as mentors. Students will engage in full-time lab research and will participate in a variety of seminars and workshops, including ethics and the responsible conduct of research, networking, professional communication skills, career opportunities in industry and academia, and the graduate school application process. Students are also provided tours of the nearby Oak Ridge National Lab, including the high-performance computing and neutron facilities. REU students have access to state-of-the-art resources housed in individual faculty mentor labs as well as core facilities for advanced imaging, DNA sequencing, bioanalytical methods, etc. Recruitment for the program involves circulating flyers by mail, establishing a web site, and digital advertising through a variety of distribution methods, and campus visits. Students are selected based on academic record, faculty recommendations, and potential for outstanding research using modern approaches in solving biological problems. REU participants are tracked to determine their continued interest in science, their academic and career paths, and the impacts of the summer research experience. Information about the program will be assessed in collaboration with local assessment experts at UTK, participation in the web-based SURE III nationwide survey sponsored by Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the NSF REU common assessment tool. More information is available by visiting http://web.bio.utk.edu/bcmb/summer/reu.html, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Cynthia Peterson at cbpeters@utk.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Brad Binder at bbinder@utk.edu).