NSF Award
1359160
This REU Site award to The Scripps Research Institute, located in La Jolla, CA, will support the training of ten students in a ten-week program during the summers of 2015-2017. This program offers its diverse participants an academic structure that integrates cutting-edge research with professional skills development and faculty mentoring. Professional development workshops and research experiences will be made up of several elements that work together and provide a stepwise, scaffolding approach to improving interns' critical thinking skills, scientific preparation skills, knowledge base, and research expertise. Students will have an opportunity to present their results at a national conference. The REU program provides an experience to its students that is typically not available to them at their home institutions. Students from schools with limited opportunities for research and from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.<br/><br/>The heart of the program will be the hands-on research experience in one of our 150 state-of-the-art laboratories that probe the structure and function of macromolecules. Potential projects include: defining the structure and function of key proteins in both the innate and acquired immune systems; production of databases cataloging the molecular components of the cell; integration of computational methods with the current arsenal of biophysical techniques to determine protein structure; and exploration of brain function. In addition to the lab research, program participants will attend themed weekly professional development workshops and scientific seminars where they will be expected to read current scientific articles and participate in discussions about the rationale behind the experiments, analyze the work critically, and engage in scientific discourse with their peers. The program culminates with oral and/or poster presentation. By providing this experience, we endeavor to improve interns' research and communication skills and prepare the most talented students to pursue careers in biomedical research.<br/><br/>A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (Directorate for Biological Sciences) will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be monitored after the program and must respond to emails sent by Scripps and the NSF reporting system. More information is available on the web (http://education.scripps.edu/undergraduate/careu/index.html), or by contacting the PI (Dr. Jamie Williamson at jrwill@scripps.edu) or co-PI (Dr. Dawn Eastmond at eastmond@scripps.edu).
