Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Purpose

The purpose of the Summer Undergraduate Research Program is to give students who have an interest in pursuing a future career in biomedical research the chance to work in a biomedical laboratory and perform a research project during the summer. The program offers students the opportunity to work closely with College of Medicine faculty on research projects in basic or clinical disciplines for a 10-week period. The students are matched with a faculty mentor that shares their area of interest. The student will assist a faculty mentor with a research project gaining insight to the development and implementation of biomedical research.

Additionally, the program features group activities outside the laboratory, including a weekly meeting in which principles of scientific investigation, publication, research funding, ethical aspects of human and animal experimentation, regulatory issues, and peer-review will be discussed. Students will have the opportunity to attend scientific seminars and workshops. Faculty mentors are located on the College of Medicine Campuses in College Station, Temple, and Houston. Students will be assigned to mentors convenient to their summer residence.

Upon completion of this program, students will be better prepared to undertake scientific investigation (basic and clinical).

Expectation

The research objectives of this program are substantial and rigorous and require full-time student commitment. Participants are expected to complete the entire program and will present their research at a summer research day.

Program Dates

The program will begin June 7, 2010 and continue until August 13, 2010. A poster presentation will be held on Wednesday, August 18, 2010 from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm in the lobby of Reynolds Medical Building.

Awards

Program participants will receive a stipend of $3,000 for the 10-week program period.

How to Apply

To apply to the program, students should complete the application form. For the Summer 2010, the deadline for application materials is February 19, 2010.

Identifying a Mentor

As part of the application process, students are asked to indicate their areas of research interest and select three to six possible faculty mentors. Students should generally seek mentors who have ongoing research projects which are congruent with the student's interest. The faculty research interests and ongoing research projects can be ascertained in several ways. A brief listing of faculty research interests have been organized into locations and thematic areas and are appended to the application form. A contact person for each campus is available to help with identifying faculty sponsors. Contact information for each campus is given below. A more extensive description of individual faculty research interests can be found online at http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/faculty/research/. Alternatively, the web page at http://medicine.tamhsc.edu/ has links to each department. Each departmental web site provides links to faculty web pages containing a more detailed exposition of the research interests of individual faculty.

Campus Contacts

College Station:

Houston:

Temple:

Completing the Application

In addition to completing the application, students are asked to submit an official transcript and three letters of recommendation. The deadline for receipt of the completed application including the transcript and letters of recommendation will be on February 19, 2010. The completed application should be submitted to:

Summer Undergraduate Research Program
Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
Office of Graduate Studies
Rm 153A Reynolds Medical Building
College Station, TX 77843-1114
Email: gradofficehsc@medicine.tamhsc.edu (Subject: Summer Undergrad Program)
Phone: 979-845-0370

Additional Contact Information:

Dr. Warren Zimmer, Program Director
Professor
Department of Systems Biology and Translational Medicine
Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine
310B Reynolds Medical Building
College Station Tx, 77843-1114
Email: WEZimmer@medicine.tamhsc.edu
Phone: 979-845-2896

*Applicants will be notified in early March if they have been awarded a stipend for the summer.

Application Process

1. Complete the application form and return to College of Medicine, Office of Graduate Studies Room 153A.
2. Submit official transcript to the College of Medicine, Office of Graduate Studies Room 153A.
3. Have three (3) letters of recommendation sent to the College of Medicine, Office of Graduate Studies Room 153A.
4. The deadline to submit application materials to the College of Medicine, Office of Graduate Studies Room 153A is February 19, 2010.
5. Notification of student awards on or before March 30, 2010.