REU Site in Biomolecular Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

The REU Program in Molecular Biosciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers undergraduate students the opportunity to carry out mentored research in the areas of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, cellular biophysics, structural biology, computational biology, genetics, genomics and proteomics. Each summer, 10 rising junior or senior undergraduate students come to UNC-CH for a 10-week summer research and professional development experience. Most participants are selected from colleges and universities that lack strong research programs in molecular biosciences, from under-represented minority groups, and from first-generation college students. Students carry out research side-by-side with faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in a highly collaborative environment. Students are full participants in their projects, from planning and executing experiments to presenting their results to their peers. Modern research into processes within living cells is increasingly an interdisciplinary enterprise in which investigators from multiple disciplines collaborate to solve important and complex questions. A weekly journal club helps the students develop analytical skills and is the venue through which interdisciplinary approaches to scientific questions are introduced. REU students are informed of careers and career paths in biomolecular research and teaching, and instructed on how to choose, apply to, and interview for, graduate school. A novel feature of the program is the use of trained graduate student mentors in selected activities. The program ends with a symposium and poster session that celebrates the students' accomplishments. Further information is available at http://www.med.unc.edu/pmbb/reu/index.htm or by contacting reu@med.unc.edu.