REU site: Research in Cell, Molecular, and Developmental Biology at The University of Chicago

This REU Site award to The University of Chicago, located in Chicago, Illinois, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2021- 2023. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, from an under-represented group, and/or from disadvantaged economic backgrounds, will be trained in the program.

Students will learn how research is conducted as well as communicated, and many will present their results at scientific conferences. The program will help to foster a more diversified next generation of scientists. Assessment of the program will be done through the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.

The theme of the REU program is Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology. The program is housed in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology. Research projects are chosen based on ongoing work in department laboratories, which exploit model systems including bacteria, protozoa, fungi, plants, and animals.

Recent projects have ranged from engineering protists for methane capture to biochemical identification of complexes involved in human genome packaging, and to understanding how the fruit fly nervous system is wired during embryonic development. The program includes workshops on laboratory safety, on ethical issues in research, and on applying to graduate programs.

There are weekly faculty seminars on cutting-edge scientific topics, weekly meetings in which students discuss their progress, and symposia at which students present their work in both poster format and in oral talks. The program is evaluated by taking advantage of the online SALG URSSA tool, which all students complete at the program’s end, and by the program directors’ interviews with participating students as well as with their mentors.

Students apply via an online portal, and applications are reviewed by a steering committee comprised of multiple faculty. In reviewing the applications, particular emphasis is placed on applicants’ essays and on evidence of student curiosity and drive. More information about the program is available at https://mgcb.uchicago.edu/education/reu or by contacting the PI (Dr. Aaron Turkewitz [email protected]) or the co-PI (Dr. Lucia Rothman-Denes [email protected].

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.