Summer Program
The National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates summer program runs 10 weeks in coordination with Binghamton University's summer sessions, beginning on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, through Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. The aim of the program is to provide an individualized research experience for the student participants. Faculty research mentors will design the students' research projects to illustrate the process of biomedical technology development through intensive hands-on training. Click here for project information by faculty mentors.
Following acceptance to the program, students will have opportunity to interact with faculty mentors through WebEx or email to gain insight on these projects before they choose the labs for their training. REU students will be paired with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at the labs to carry out independent research projects under the direction of their faculty mentors. Students will be trained to form hypotheses, design experiments to validate the hypotheses, conduct experiments to collect, analyze and interpret data, and to report experimental results by presenting research results at weekly group lab meetings, regional, national and international conferences as well as in peer-reviewed journals.
Although research projects will be individualized, students will have ample opportunities to interact with and learn from each other through carefully designed group activities such as weekly lab meetings, and weekly classes on preparing research presentations, as well as preparing research posters and a field trip. Final presentations will be held at the Binghamton University research fair celebration that will be jointly hosted with other campus undergraduate research programs.
By working with graduate students and postdoctoral fellows as well as other Binghamton University students in the labs, they will develop the skills needed to be collaborative researchers. Moreover, mentors will offer continuous support both during and post-program, including advice on graduate studies and career development. This training will empower students to become leaders and innovators able to respond to the global challenges of the 21st century.
The timetable for the proposed summer REU Program
Week 1
Orientation will be held on Days 1 and 2. On Day 1, Students and faculty mentors will be formally introduced. Students will tour BU's facilities. On Day 2, students will receive training in laboratory safety, maintaining research notebooks, responsible conduct of research, and fundamental research methods applicable to biomedical sciences and engineering. After training, students will be assigned to individual labs and meet their faculty mentors, postdocs and graduate students.
Week 2-9
Student participants will work in labs Monday through Friday with graduate students under the direction of faculty mentors. Students are required to develop their own research plans, experimental protocols, collect and interpret experimental data, take notes, and independently write research reports. They will be paired with graduate students and/or postdocs, and independently work on their assigned research projects at labs. This period will include weekly group meetings to ensure that students are connected to their unit throughout the program.
Work in labs under the direction of faculty mentors from Monday to Friday. Students are required to develop their own research plans, experimental protocols, collect and interpret experimental data, take notes, and write research reports. They will be paired with graduate students and/or postdocs and independently work on their assigned research projects at labs. This period will include weekly large group meetings to ensure that students are connected to their cohort throughout the program.
Week 10
Students are required to write and submit a report on their research discovery. A research fair held in conjunction with other campus undergraduate research programs will provide a venue for students to present the results of their research in a poster. Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty mentors and the public will be invited and can interact with REU students. A team of judges will be formed from faculty who are knowledgeable about subjects but are not mentors of these students, to assess the quality of students' research. The best REU poster selected by the faculty judges will be announced during the poster ceremony.
