Undergraduate Biomedical Research Training at UTEP

NIH RePORTER · NIH · T34 · $295,006 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

We shall seek out, nurture, and train honors students in STEM majors related to biomedical disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics for entry into strong graduate programs with the ultimate goal of graduation with a Ph.D. degree in their chosen field. The program will be research intensive, each student working in a group with our finest research faculty for a period of up to 24 months with the experience culminating in the mandatory writing and oral defense of a research Thesis. The student will be expected to attend scientific meeting, initially as an observer to familiarize themselves with the culture and design of such meetings, and later to present their research results to the chosen scientific community. Along with the research exposure and training the students will have special focused classes on Bioethics and Responsible Conduct of Research. The Bioethics course will be taught by faculty from the Department of Philosophy and will be a specific course focused on the MARC students, intense and intellectually broad as befits students with aspirations of the Ph. D. degree and later research- oriented careers. The Responsible Conduct of Research will be part of a weekly “Introduction to Research:' course and will be directed by the PD, as a more hands-on day to day inquiry into the pitfalls open to the research community. It will include examples of the “crime” and the “punishment” as evidenced from the NIH Office of Research Integrity and the related NSF office. The “Introduction to Research” class will also involve a series of “Conversations with Scholars” where our top University Scholars come for informal sessions to describe their work, and their personal stories en route from student to faculty, and the hurdles faced and overcome. The students will be encouraged to participate in a summer research experience off-campus in the knowledge that many of our students have little or no experience outside our somewhat isolated region, and the received understanding that their “home” laboratory and training and personal talent makes them competitive for graduate school is often of great importance to their development. Such experiences can be special programs organized by many Universities for this student audience; National Laboratory Programs, e.g. DOE, DOD, or special arrangement made by the research director. Finally we have designed two classes “Bioinformatics” and “Entrepreneurship in Science” as two key experiences to enhance their training and career ideas/options.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10127397
Project number
3T34GM008048-35S1
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS EL PASO
Principal Investigator
KEITH H PANNELL
Activity code
T34
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$295,006
Award type
3
Project period
2020-06-01 → 2021-08-31