Talent Expansion in Quantitative Biology

东田纳西州立大学的数学系和生物科学系正在合作，让三批新生（每年20名学生）沉浸在一个新的为期四年的定量生物学研究密集型课程中。 学生被招募为专业到任何部门从那些谁宣布自己为“未定”，并在每种情况下，进入定量生物学轨道。 该计划的特点包括：跨学科的桥梁计划（将在学生的高中高年级和大学一年级之间进行），其中包括对早期研究机会的介绍;在大一，大二和大三期间参与适当的研究项目，并在第三年结束时安排外部研究经验或实习;和指导整个本科生年与高年级本科生参与辅导过程。 该项目正在培养一批擅长数学、生物和计算机科学融合的学生。该项目的智力优势在于，它旨在毕业于高需求的非传统浓度，即定量和计算生物/医学科学的60个专业。它从一个新的课程，积极放弃许多传统的必修课程，同时把研究放在所有活动的中心舞台上，这一活动的更广泛的影响是，它创造了一个管道，许多职业和研究生课程在计算科学，信息学，数学生物学，神经科学等全国各地;它涉及并有助于为服务不足的学生群体提供清晰的职业道路。

The Departments of Mathematics and Biological Sciences at East Tennessee State University are working in partnership to immerse three cohorts of entering freshmen (20 students each year) in a new four-year research-intensive curriculum in quantitative biology. Students are recruited as majors into either department from those who declare themselves as "undecided" and, in each case, enter a Quantitative Biology track. Features of the program include: an interdisciplinary bridge program (to be taken between the students' senior year in high school and freshman year in college) that includes an introduction to early research opportunities; participation in appropriate research projects during the freshman, sophomore and junior years and placement in external Research Experiences for Undergraduates or internships at the end of their third year; and mentoring throughout the undergraduate years with involvement of advanced undergraduates in the mentoring process. The project is creating a cadre of students who are adept at functioning at the confluence of the mathematical, biological and computing sciences. The INTELLECTUAL MERIT of the project is that it seeks to graduate sixty majors in a high-demand non-traditional concentration, namely quantitative and computational bio/medical science. It gains its strength from a new curriculum that aggressively discards many traditionally required courses, while placing research squarely into the center stage of all activities.The BROADER IMPACTS of this activity are that it creates a pipeline to the many careers and graduate programs in Computational Science, Informatics, Mathematical Biology, Neuroscience, etc. across the nation; and that it involves and helps promote a clear career path for an underserved population of students.