Norman, Okla.—The National Science Foundation Undergraduate Research Program in Structural Biology at the University of Oklahoma provides a research experience for students who do not have a program available to them at their institutions. After completing a nine-week summer program on structural biology research, 10 students from universities across the nation presented research results during the Second Annual Curiosity to Creativity Summer Symposium on July 27, 2017, at the Stephenson Research and Technology Center on the OU Research Campus.
“The REU students have really worked hard on their projects, and they have made good progress. We have ‘working lunches’ once a week and during these lunches, the students gain practice at presenting their work orally. Through these meetings, it has become abundantly clear that the students are fully engaged in their research projects and are enjoying this experience,” said OU Program Director Paul Sims.
Students participating in the 2017 summer program are: Naaila Ali, Clarion University; Kyle Boulanger, Grand View University; Katelyn Comeau, Mt. Saint Mary’s University; Dale Conrad, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology; Matthew Finneran, Central Michigan University; Hunter Glover, University of Oklahoma; Daniel Griffith, University of Wisconsin; Ashley Kang, Grinnell College; Riya Koshy, Austin College; and Uriel Vasquez, Hamline University.
The summer program is designed to teach students skills in laboratory research, how to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, the process of science, and communicating research results to the public. Each student is paired with a mentor and assigned a research project, which varies according to the research of each mentor. The common underlying theme of all research projects though is structural biology. At the end of the program, students present their research results during a poster presentation.
For more information about the NSF Undergraduate Research Experience in Structural Biology, contact OU Professor Paul Sims at psims@ou.edu.
