BIOL2996: Directed Introduction to Research

Directed Introduction to Research is an introduction to laboratory or field biological research for students with no prior experience, normally first- and second-year students. The University directed studies contract will be used to describe the training experience which could include attending lab meetings, reading and discussing research papers from the lab, learning basic lab and field techniques, assays, and approaches used by the research group, and learning to keep a lab or field notebook. The contract must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies (DUGS) for the major before the student is allowed to register. The contract includes a description of learning objectives for the course and how the assessment of learning will be conducted. Lab or field training can be led by graduate students or postdocs in the research group but one-on-one meetings with the PI should be included. The course is one credit and the student and PI agree that 45 hours of work will be done. There will be one group meeting per semester per major for all of the students enrolled in 2996 to discuss the research experience with the Director of Undergraduate Research for the major and a panel of more experienced undergraduate researchers. The goal of that meeting is community building and to introduce students to opportunities for further research experience. The grading option is S/N, similar to all directed studies/research courses in CBS. This course can be repeated, if it is done with a different mentor, for a total of two credits. One credit of this course can be counted as a degree requirement for each CBS major.

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