REU Site: Integrative Cell and Molecular Biology

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This REU site award to the University of Notre Dame, located in South Bend, IN, will support the training of 12 students for 10 weeks during summers 2017-2019. The REU program will provide students with independent research projects within an interdisciplinary research community. Participants will formulate their research project and proposal with their mentor, speak about their work at the beginning of the summer, and present their results at the end of summer at the Summer REU Symposium. A weekly seminar program will be included to develop students' intellectual and professional skills, as well as to educate them about various career paths in biological sciences. In addition, students will attend interactive workshops on integrative research, ethics and responsible conduct of research, the publication process, scientific writing, and graduate school applications. The underlying aim of the program is to give students strong incentives for pursuing careers in research. It is anticipated that a total of 36 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. They will be recruited through general and targeted approaches with partner institutions. Students will be selected based on academic record, the quality of the personal statement/cover letter, recommendation letters, a sincere desire to pursue a research career, and potential for outstanding research in cell/molecular biology. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences.Participant tracking data will be obtained using a background, pre-program, post-program, and alumni survey. In addition, 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. Continued contact with each participant will take place through planning for conference presentations, encouraging students to pursue additional research, and preparation for graduate school. More information and application materials are available at http://nd.edu/~biosreu/, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Michelle Whaley, (574) 631-9343, Michelle.A.Whaley.3@nd.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. David Hyde, (574) 631-8054, David.R.Hyde.1@nd.edu).