Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in Biological Systems

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in Biological Systems (SuPURBS). SuPURBS is a new, summer residency program to support students for 10 weeks of undergraduate research at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michgan. The Program objectives are to: (i) facilitate undergraduate research with a cross-disciplinary, thematic emphasis on molecular and cellular systems analysis; (ii) broaden the exposure of students to mathematical skills that apply to biological questions; (iii) promote student and faculty interaction; (iv) broaden awareness of career opportunities in research, education and industry; and (v) utilize educational and research collaborations between faculty at undergraduate institutions and at Michigan State University to prepare students for increased use of mathematical approaches to solve biological questions. The Program focus is to combine a research experience in areas of molecular and cellular biosciences, along with classroom exposure to methods and strategies for analysis of biological systems. Over 54 faculty associated with 15 academic departments, three research centers, and two graduate, interdepartmental, academic programs comprise the pool of research mentors who are accessible to SuPURBS program participants. Research disciplines represented include microbial biology; biochemistry; cell biology; microbial ecology; molecular evolution; immunology; signal transduction; parasitology; cryobiology; phylogenetics; plant biology; astrobiology; infectious diseases; genetics and molecular genetics. Maximizing the time for student research and promoting interaction among students as well as between students and faculty are key features of the overall program design. Core program activities for SuPURBS participants include: a) four weeks of four hours per week mathematics exposure under the theme of Analysis of Biological Systems; b) weekly, group journal club and research discussion; c) informal seminar and discussion with faculty or graduate students and postdocs about research and career opportunities. Students will complete a written report of progress and a powerpoint poster of results from the summer research. Group recreational activities will be planned and scheduled by student participants. The SuPURBS program provides student participants with free room and three meals per day in a residence hall on campus; round trip travel expenses up to $500; and a stipend of $3000. The SuPURBS program will generally start after Memorial Day in the last week of May and run through the first week of August. A SuPURBS website at http://www.msu.edu/~supurbs/ is under development and will be accessible from the webpage of the College of Natural Science (www.ns.msu.edu), and the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics (www.mmg.msu.edu), Michigan State University. Email supurbs@msu.edu for information and an application.