SURE (SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE) PROGRAM

在过去的十年里，许多生物化学研究生课程都经历了申请者数量的下降，这些申请者的背景强调科学的定量方面，这是典型的物理科学。为了解决这个问题，我们建议在佛蒙特大学生物化学系创建一个暑期本科生研究体验（SURE）。目前的目标是在11位具有不同研究兴趣的教师的指导下，向具有物理科学背景的合格本科生介绍生物医学研究问题和技术，包括血液凝固级联中的蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用，金属蛋白生物化学，蛋白质晶体学，蛋白质-核酸相互作用以及蛋白质复合物的结构和功能。我们将根据学员以前的课程学习和本科保荐人的推荐，从我们过去成功招收的东北高校中挑选学员。该培训计划的目标是：1)通过在nih资助的培训学院的实验室进行独立研究，招募、培训和指导6-10名有前途的本科生；2)通过讲座，研讨会和工作坊来增加独立研究经验，以建立基础知识并激发批判性思维；3)通过四个步骤来评估项目，包括：a)评估新入学学生的资格；B)评估学生的进步和现场反应；C)项目结束时的总结性评估；d)后续评估，以确定经验对参与者的职业生涯的影响。通过在高度集中的背景下为物理科学本科生提供积极的培训经验，我们预计SURE项目将增加佛蒙特大学生物医学研究生课程的潜在申请人数量，以及全国范围内的潜在申请人数量。

Over the last decade, many graduate programs in biochemistry have experienced a decline in the number of applicants with backgrounds in which the quantitative aspects of sciences are stressed, which is typical of the physical sciences. In order to address this problem, we propose to create a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Vermont. The immediate objective is to introduce qualified undergraduates with a physical sciences background to biomedical research questions and techniques under the direction of 11 faculty with a diverse array of research interests, including protein-protein interactions in the blood coagulation cascade, metalloprotein biochemistry, protein crystallography, protein-nucleic acid interactions, and structure and function of protein complexes. The trainees will be selected on the basis of their previous coursework and undergraduate sponsor's recommendations from an ensemble of colleges and universities in the Northeast where we have successfully recruited in the past. The aims of the training program are to 1) recruit, train, and mentor 6-10 promising undergraduates through sponsored independent research in the laboratories of NIH-funded training faculty; 2) augment the independent research experience with lectures, seminars, and workshops to build foundation knowledge and stimulate critical thinking; and 3) evaluate the program through a four step process involving: a) assessment of incoming student qualifications; b) assessment of student progress and reaction in situ; c) summative assessment at the conclusion of the program; and d) follow-up assessment to determine the impact of the experience on the participant's careers. By providing a positive training experience for physical science undergraduates in a highly focused context, we anticipate that the SURE program will both increase the pool of potential applicants to the University of Vermont's biomedical graduate programs, as well as the pool of potential applicants nationwide.