REU Site: Next-Generation Bioinformatics for Genomics-enabled Research in the Life Sciences

College Of Charleston, Charleston SC

Investigators

Abstract

This REU Site award to the College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, will support the training of 10 students in a 10-week program during the summers of 2015-2017. The REU program is open to all undergraduate students who are citizens, nationals or permanent residents of the United States. Students trained in the program will gain skills in lab research, develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, understand the process of science, and be able to communicate their research results to their peers and the general public. Students will have an opportunity to present their results at a national conference. The REU program provides an experience to students that is typically not available to them at their home institutions. Students from schools with limited opportunities for research and from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. This REU Site program will focus on integrative research that spans the areas of genomics, bioinformatics, data mining, data science, molecular biology and evolution. Example interdisciplinary projects include the application of next-generation DNA sequencing data to understand and investigate genomes through the development and application of computational tools and algorithms from fields such as data mining, machine learning, and data science. Teams of both biologists and computer scientists will employ novel and existing algorithms for integrating molecular and organismal biology with studies of ecology, behavior, and evolution. A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure (Directorate for Biological Sciences) will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students are required to be tracked after the program and must respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information is available by contacting the PI (Dr. Paul Anderson at andersonpe2@cofc.edu) or co-PI (Dr. Andrew M. Shedlock at shedlockam@cofc.edu).