BCH4905

1. BCH4905 Science for Life Seminar, Spring 2014

2. Procedures for the Class Or How to ENJOY the semester and GET AN “A” in BCH4905, Science for Life Seminar, Spring 2014

3. Listen Politely to Presentations • Talking during class disturbs students around you and disturbs Prof. Dunn • Ask questions after presentation; identify yourself • ONE extra credit point for each good question on the science; give TA your name • Only one question per student per day

4. Three Required Reports • Write three reports, each worth 30 points. One must be on a Professor • Can be speakers or other Professor from the program listing on website • MUST conduct FACE-to-FACE interview in professor’s office and/or laboratory, not phone or email • Learn about science in that lab, consider for a research experience

5. Reports (continued) • You MAY NOT copy from the website of the professor or his lab to develop your report; TAs will check • Professor must be tenure track [Not post-docs, techs, instructors, or graduate students] • Reports must be at least two pages and less than four pages; single-spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 point font • Bibliography is list of five publications from professor’s lab;this is one extra page after the 2-3 pages of text of the report

6. Two reports can be from these alternatives: • (1) Breakthroughs in Bioscience • An Alternative report may be done by writing about one of 25 publications on a special website • Website address: http://opa.faseb.org/pages/Publications/breakthroughs.htm • Summarize the publication in 2-3 pages, single spaced, one inch margins, 12 point font

7. Alternative Reports: (2) • (2) HHMI Investigators or HHMI International Scholars • We will allow another type of alternative report on one of the many HHMI Investigators at http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/ • or HHMI International Scholars at http://www.hhmi.org/research/scholars/ • No interview is required, but instead you can use a Google search on the person’s name. • Report must be in student’s own words; single-spaced, one inch margins, 12 point font.

8. Alternative Reports: (3) • Students may also view an on-line video from the collection found at http://www.ascb.org/iBioSeminars/ • Then write a 2-3 page summary of the topic. • Again, the summary must be written in the students own words. Single-spaced, one inch margins, 12 point font • No interviews allowed for this alternative.

9. Alternative Reports: (4) • Fourth alternative for one of your three reports, view the 50 minute movie at the following link:http://www.asbmb.org/uploadedfiles/Interactive/video/obsessed.swf • Then write a 3 page report on what you see in the movie. Single-spaced, one inch margins, 12 point font • Also you can write a second (or third) report on a different professor you have interviewed.

10. Alternative Reports No Bibliography is required for any of the alternative Reports; Bibliography is ONLY REQUIRED for the report on a professor ALL reports must be single-spaced, one inch margins, with 12 point font, at least two full pages.

11. Start Early • Start now to set up interviews with faculty you may be interested in • Phone or email to request an interview • In your email SUBJECT LINE, put “Freshman (or sophomore) eager to get involved in research” • or “Honors freshman looking for research opportunities”

12. Start Early (2) • Phone or email MULTIPLE professors now to maximize your chance of setting up an interview • Set a day and time for the interview and show up early with a resume’ • Email a reminder the day before the interview is scheduled and ask for directions to the professor’s office • If you can’t make a scheduled interview, email the professor to cancel

13. Start Early (3) • Set up interviews as soon as possible so you don’t get left out and are not late on your reports • Be polite, but persistent; address all professors as “Dr” or “Professor” • Expand your thinking about the area you might be interested in • Visit the professor’s lab; talk to students; LEARN

14. Rules for Reports • Face-to-face interview with professor • Report must be in your own words • Report filename based on YOUR NAME LastnameFirstInitial_report#1.doc, • i.e., SmithA_report#1.doc • Only MS Word files in Windows format (.doc or .docx) • Spell and Grammar Check Everything

15. Rules for Reports (2) • Upload report on COURSE WEBSITE using “Upload Your Report” button • MUST be registered on the course website to upload report • Report should answer all questions given in syllabus (next page) • Use HEADINGS to separate answers

16. SIX Questions to Answer for report on a Professor • NOTE THE USE OF HEADINGS !!!!!!!!!!!!! • Biographical information on the professor (where born, where educated, current title); How did the professor become interested in science? • Number of Students: undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows currently in the laboratory, with some detail on each, • Projects: a paragraph on each project that would be available for undergraduates with a description of the research. What questions are the lab trying to answer? • Experimental techniques that are used in the laboratory, • Major Collaborators: Names and affiliations of major collaborators of the professor, with details • End of five page report • Bibliography: Five most recent publications from the professor’s laboratory, with full citation including authors, title, year, journal (or book), volume, pages, i.e., 1163-1172. THIS IS THE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE REPORT

17. Questions??