Pre-College Independent Research in Molecular Biology

Course Number 01:119:107

2006-2007 Academic Year

Course Description:
 Students in the Pre-College Independent Research in Molecular Biology course (01:119:107) will conduct a year long research project using bioinformatics.  This work will build upon and significantly extend their previous research training in the Waksman Student Scholars Program (WSSP) and the 119:105 course.  It will include in-depth DNA and protein sequence analysis, analysis of gene expression and mutations, and protein structure modeling.  Each student will prepare a poster on his/her work and will be required to present their poster at local or national scientific meetings.  Depending on the progress of students and the results from the analysis of their data, students may take part in writing a scientific paper on their findings.  As described in detail below, the course will meet at the Waksman Institute during set time periods every week and students will be required to hand in material and take exams. (Course Syllabus)

Course Registration:
Enrollment will be limited to those students who have previously participated in the WSSP (2004 or 2005) or completed 119:105 or by special permission from the instructors.  Registration for the 119:107 course will follow the same mechanism that is currently used to enroll students in 119:105.  Students who are interested in enrolling should complete the registration form and submit it with a $XXX,XX check (nonrefundable) made payable to Rutgers University to cover the costs of tuition and fees.

Download a Registration Form (doc) (pdf)

Please send your registration and payment to:

Waksman Institute: Attn: Sue Coletta
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
190 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8020

The deadline for registration is Monday, October 2, 2006.

Classes
The 119:107 course will run from October through May (officially the 3 credit 119:107 course is a spring offering).  Classes and lab sessions will be held at 4:00 PM in either Rm 311 or the Student Teaching Lab (Rm 019) at the Waksman Institute (directions) on Busch Campus.  The course is heavily loaded in the Fall semester, when students will be performing their research project in the lab.  Class/lab sessions will meet every week.  During the winter and early part of the Spring semester students will be analyzing their data, preparing posters, and practicing their presentations.  Class sessions will therefore be held every other week.  Poor class attendance will affect the student’s grade in the course.

Although students will have access to the computer lab in the Waksman Institute to perform some of the bioinformatics steps during class time, a significant portion of their analyses will need to conducted back at their high schools or at home. 

Students in the 119:107 course will be expected to attend and contribute to the WSSP-06 follow up meetings at the Waksman Institute during the school year. The end of the course will focus on training the students to design and present a poster at a scientific meeting.  They will also present a short talk on their research at the WSSP poster session in June.

Take Home Problems and Clone Analysis (40% of the grade)
A series of bioinformatics problem sets will be given to the students during the first part of the course.  These problem sets will be used to review basic bioinformatics approaches that were covered when the students participated in the Waksman Student Scholars Program and in the 119:105 course.  By the end of the 119:107 course students will be expected to have analyzed a number of different clones and submitted their data for publication in the NCBI databases.  During the second part of the course they will research a biological question that developed from their bioinformatics analysis on a specific clone.  This will serve as the basis for their independent research project.

Examinations (20% of the grade)
Each student will take a midterm examination on laboratory and bioinformatics methodologies.  The exam will be administered at Rutgers University. 

Poster Presentations (40% of the grade)
Students will be required to present their research at scientific meetings, including the North Jersey Regional Science Fair, regional meetings of AAAS, New Jersey Academy of Science and The Theobald Smith Society (NJ branch of the American Society of Microbiology).  Students will also be encouraged to enter national science competitions for high school students. Each student will be also required to give an oral presentation describing their research at the WSSP-06 Forum held at the GE Healthcare on June 5, 2007.  

Credits and Grades
We will to award 3 college credits to students who successfully complete a year of research.  To earn these credits students must show good attendance and participation at the biweekly meetings at Rutgers University, successfully complete the midterm examination, participate in three Waksman Challenges, and prepare and defend a poster at the end of the academic year. 

Instructors
The course will be taught by Dr. Andrew Vershon and Dr. William Sofer, co-directors of the WSSP.  Their role will be to provide lectures on bioinformatics research methods and facilitate discussions of the student’s research.

For more information, contact Sue Coletta
Phone: (732) 445 – 2038
Voice Mail:(732) 445 – 3531
FAX:(732) 445 – 5735
Email:coletta@waksman.rutgers.edu