May 2005

NSF grant to Carnegie Mellon establishes research experiences for undergraduates site

Department of Biological Sciences receives $407,000

Pittsburgh -- The Department of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University has received a $407,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site.

Beginning in late May, ten rising juniors and seniors will spend ten weeks at Carnegie Mellon participating in a program called "Mentored, Cutting Edge Research Experiences in Molecular Biosciences." Students selected for the program will include undergraduates from small colleges and universities th

at lack extensive research programs, with an emphasis on groups underrepresented in the sciences. Participants will conduct intensive, mentored research projects in the following fields: molecular biology and genetics, cell and developmental biology, biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, neuroscience, and computational biology and bioinformatics. In addition to conducting their own high-quality research projects, REU students will attend faculty research talks, student-led discussions of articles from the scientific literature, and presentations on career options and scientific ethics. At a concluding symposium, all students will give formal talks about their research.

Directed by David Hackney, professor of biological sciences, and Brooke McCartney, assistant professor of biological sciences and a 1991 alumna of Carnegie Mellon's NSF REU program, the REU will run concurrently with the Department's Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP). Former SURP and REU students have been accepted into top graduate programs and have won prestigious awards such as Goldwater and Rhodes scholarships. More information about the REU is available at http://www.cmu.edu/bio/undergraduate/research/SURP/reu.shtml.