REU Site: Networked Projects in Cell and Molecular Biology at the Wadsworth Center

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This REU site award to the Wadsworth Center, located in Albany, NY, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2018-2020. The primary objective of the program is to provide cutting-edge research experiences in fundamental cell and molecular biosciences, and includes projects in which undergraduate students work with each other and/or with pairs of mentor(s) on collaborative projects. Projects encompass a wide spectrum in cutting edge research in molecular genetics, cell biology, and structural and computational biology. Students will attend weekly seminars on topics including current faculty research, career options and strategies, and ethics and the responsible conduct of research. Program outcomes will be assessed based on student surveys and using the CIMER REU tool as a common assessment tool. Applications are completed online (https://www.wadsworth.org/education/undergraduate/reu), and are especially encouraged from students attending small colleges or universities, and from underrepresented minority populations. Selection of participants is made from all applications received by a committee of Wadsworth Center scientists based on personal statements from the applicant, letters of support, and transcripts of grades and courses.It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Applicants from community colleges and small colleges in New York with limited research opportunities, as well as NYS-CSTEP institutions, are encouraged to apply. 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. For purposes of data analysis with past records, students will also be asked to complete a second web-based assessment tool for which data has been collected for several years. 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 https://www.wadsworth.org/reu, or by contacting the PI, Dr. Randall Morse, or the Program Director, Dr. Matthew Kohn, at reu@health.ny.gov.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.