REU Site: Scripps Structure and Function Summer Institute (SFSI)

The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

Thie REU Site award to The Scripps Research Institute, located in La Jolla, CA, will support the training of ten students for ten weeks during the summers of 2022-2024. The Structure and Funcation Summer Institute (SFSI) creates a dynamic and stimulating educational and research environment, provides undergraduate students, particularly freshmen, sophomores and juniors from underserved and underrepresented populations with the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research collaboratively with faculty and scientists and inspires them to choose STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths and understand the impact of the SFSI program. The SFSI offers its diverse participants an academic structure that integrates cutting-edge hands-on laboratory research with professional skills development and mentoring. Each of the major program components – (1) curriculum and professional development workshops and (2) research training – is made up of several elements that work together and provides a stepwise approach to improving interns’ critical thinking skills, scientific preparation skills, knowledge base, and research expertise. The heart of the program is the hands-on research experience in one of the site's state-of-the-art laboratories where interns learn the scientific process by participating in the scientific process side-by-side with world-renowned faculty and scientists. As an adjunct to the lab research, interns attend themed weekly professional development workshops and scientific seminars where they are expected to read current scientific articles and lead discussions about the rationale behind the experiments, analyze the work critically, and engage in scientific discourse with their peers. Applications, due on February 15th, are reviewed by faculty mentors. Selected participants are contacted by April 15th. More information about the program is available by visiting https://education.scripps.edu/undergraduate/summer-research/reu-programs/, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Dawn Eastmond at eduprgm@scripps.edu). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.