REU Site: Undergraduate Research in Computational Biology at Mississippi State University

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State MS

Investigators

Abstract

An award has been made to Mississippi State University that will provide research training for 10 weeks for 10 students, during the summers of 2010-2012. This project is supported by the Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO) and Computer Information Science and Engineering (CISE). Undergraduate students will be recruited from institutions throughout Mississippi and the surrounding area to work on interdisciplinary research projects in computational biology. Students will work closely with their faculty mentors on projects in the areas of genome analysis, functional genomics, artificial intelligence, scientific visualization, and bio-ontologies, among others. Recruitment will be targeted at colleges and universities within Mississippi and the surrounding states with the goal of providing a meaningful research experience to promising undergraduate students who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to engage in research. There is a particular focus on increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in computational biology research. Educational and professional development sessions will be conducted to train students in the basics of computational biology and to provide information on graduate school and pursuing scientific careers. Students will also receive training and mentoring in the responsible conduct of research. The program will culminate with a poster session where the students will present their research findings to the computational biology community at Mississippi State University. Program objectives will be assessed through the use of a common web-based assessment tool. More information about this program can be obtained by contacting the project PI, Dr. Andy Perkins (perkins@cse.msstate.edu) at (662) 325-0004, or by visiting the project website at http://www.cse.msstate.edu/~compbio/.