NSF Award
0139181
The Jackson Laboratory's Summer Student Program has provided a life-altering 10-week research apprenticeship for thousands of high school and college students for more than seventy years. The program immerses students in laboratory science: hypothesis-driven research, rigorous testing of ideas using the experimental method, collecting and interpreting experimental results to arrive at a conclusion, and reporting results in an open forum. It inculcates the unyielding demand for intellectual honesty in reporting and interpreting results. The object is to introduce students to the real nature of research and change perceptions of how science is done.<br/><br/>Each summer student participant conducts original hands-on research as a contributing member of a sponsoring scientist's research team. Projects are tailored to the student's background and interests. Each student's independent project focuses on a vital subject such as cancer, the use of computers in biology, aging, genetics, how the immune system fights disease, or diseases of the nervous system. Students devote most of their effort to their individual research projects, but the program also provides formal exposure to the breadth of genetics research at the Laboratory, to different paths leading to careers in science, and to consideration of the ethical conduct of research. The overall theme is to introduce students to the professional life and habits of mind of a scientist.<br/><br/>Science is both a body of knowledge and a way of exploring the natural world. In school, students are exposed to the body of knowledge but often do not appreciate the creative nature of scientific research. A research program changes these misperceptions. Alumni report that these lessons last a lifetime, shape careers, and change the way participants perceive their world. Students develop a close working relationship with a research scientist and come to better understand the profound satisfaction of a career in advancing human understanding of nature; more than 95% of Jackson REU participants are now in graduate or medical school or are employed in science.
