REU Site: Research by Undergraduates using Molecular Biology Applications (RUMBA)

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This REU Site award to San Jose University, located in San Jose, CA, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2017- 2019. The REU program will focus on the theme of molecular biology applications in biological research. Nine faculty members with expertise in the areas of neuroscience, genetics, molecular environmental microbiology, biochemistry, and cell & molecular biology will mentor REU students. Aside from the research projects, students will participate in: (1) professional development activities, (2) the creation of individual development plans (IDP), (3) journal clubs to discuss relevant papers in the field, (4) ethics and the responsible conduct of research training, and (5) weekly research meetings where the entire cohort and their faculty mentors meet to discuss research progress. The ethics training is a shared experience with the BIO REU sites at San Francisco State University and the University of California at Berkeley. An on-line application is due the first Friday of March. Ten students will be selected each year based on their application and a phone interview. Notification of finalists happens on the third week of March. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Rising sophomore and junior students are encouraged to apply. At the end of the program, students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU Site programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. In addition to a final research paper, students will do poster and oral presentations to present the results of their research. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program is available by visiting http://www.biology.sjsu.edu/rumba/NSF-REU_RUMBA/Welcome.html, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Soto at julio.soto@sjsu.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Miri VanHoven at miri.vanhoven@sjsu.edu).