Overview
The Waksman Student Scholars Program is designed help high school students learn modern molecular genetics by having them engage in genuine scientific research projects. It is a two-part program aimed at both teachers and students.

The Summer Institute
A teacher and two students from a maximum of 20 high schools commute to the Waksman Institute at Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ daily for a month in July. There they learn about a research project in molecular biology. The projects change from year to year. Both the background material and the laboratory skills necessary to carry out the project are presented. Click "The Research Project" hyperlink to learn more about this year's project.

The Academic Year
Teachers and students return to their classrooms in September and begin working on the research project. Additional students are recruited. Some students earn Rutgers University credit by participating in a formal course. Some schools offer a research course for high school credit; others offer the research as an after-school activity. The students return to Rutgers for six meetings during the academic year. At the end of the year, in June, a forum is held where students present the results of their studies at a poster session.

Amino Acid Game
Click here to participate in the amino acid game.

My Name is Charles Darwin
Click here to participate in the MYNAMEISCHARLESDARWIN Game.

Dot Plotter
Click here to use Dot Plotter to analyze your sequences.

Tutorial 1
Click here to access the first HiGene Tutorial. Students and teachers should examine the tutorial with an eye toward improving its clarity, interest, and accuracy. "HiGene" is our name for the Artemia sequencing project. Our intention is to eventually engage schools from all over the country in the research.

Click here to access the second HiGene Tutorial.

Click here to access the third HiGene Tutorial.

Click here to access the fourth HiGene Tutorial.

Click here to access the fifth HiGene Tutorial.

DSAP Hints
1. To begin to work on a sequence from a clone prepped by your school, Select the "+ Add New Clone" button under the My Clones tab to select from the list of clones assigned to your school.

2. If you have questions about a particular clone use the Clone Discussion link to send messages to your teacher of the WSSP staff about the clone. The Clone Discussion link will also show you where you may need to correct soem of your answers before we can submit the sequence to NCBI.

3. Four more "practice clones" have been added to the practice clone pool. The PST1.09 and PST2.09 are clones which code for proteins that can be used to model the structure of the protein. The PSG1.09 and PSG2.09 clones have gaps in the sequences and can be used as practice to determine how to subclone the plasmids to sequence the DNA.