REU Site Grant in the Field of Biostatistics

Ohio State University Research Foundation -Do Not Use, Columbus OH

Investigators

Abstract

The fact that there is a shortage of professionals trained in the use of modern statistical methods is clear from the large number of outstanding employment opportunities available today in academia, government and industry. Universities are constantly searching for bright, highly motivated students to study statistics but, at most universities, this education takes place at the graduate level. Turning students on to the challenges and rewards of statistics while they are undergraduates has great appeal as we plan for the inevitable increase in demand we are likely to see for these skills in the future. Support is requested for an REU site grant in the field of biostatistics. Following a nationwide search, six undergraduate trainees will be selected. Each trainee will spend 8 weeks at The Ohio State University where they will be assigned to a project requiring the application of statistical methods to a real problem. During the first five weeks of the program all students will take an intensive 5-credit course in applied statistics. In this course they will learn to reason statistically, to use statistical software, to manage data and to perform standard statistical analyses. Throughout the eight weeks trainees will meet with faculty mentors concerning the subject matter issues of their specific projects, will meet with statistical faculty, staff, and graduate research assistants to discuss alternative ways of analyzing their data, will present their problems and alternative solutions to the other trainees, and will attend seminars demonstrating the wide variety of applications of statistics in science. All trainees will prepare, during the eight-week period, a written report documenting the scientific questions and the associated solutions. A poster session will be held where results from this summer experience can be shared with the scientific community at The Ohio State University.