REU SITE: Plant Genomics @ Michigan State University

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This REU Site award to Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2018 - 2020. REU participants will engage in faculty mentored research focused on genomics of plants and photosynthetic microbes that will be suitable for students interested in genomics, molecular genetics, biochemistry, chemistry, and computational biology. Participants will be selected from a pool of rising sophomore, junior, and senior applicants with an emphasis on individuals from primarily undergraduate institutions and institutions serving under-represented groups in the sciences. This REU will provide insight into graduate school. Participants will be immersed within an active research group and will interact with faculty, postdoctoral associates, and graduate students to acquire research skills and an in depth understanding of their project. The program includes seminars and workshops describing MSU research programs, graduate school opportunities and preparation, scientific career paths, scientific ethics and research misconduct, and presentation skills. Participants will prepare posters and give talks describing their research at annual MSU research symposia. Activities will be structured to increase each participant's ability to think critically and conduct biological research with the goal of maximizing their future impact on STEM disciplines. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Collectively the experiences gained during this REU program are intended to provide participants with the experience and confidence to pursue graduate school and scientific careers in the biological sciences. A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU Site programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (DBI) will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program 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 https://plantgenomics.natsci.msu.edu, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Cornelius Barry at barrycs@msu.edu) or the co-PI (Dr. Robert Last at lastr@msu.edu). This program is supported by DBI and IOS Divisions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.