Program in Molecular Biosciences

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, with financial support from the National Science Foundation, offers qualified undergraduates from throughout the country the opportunity to conduct research projects in biochemistry and molecular biology for ten weeks each summer.

This program allows students to participate in active research in a wide range of areas, including protein structure and function, transcriptional mechanisms, molecular neurobiology, regulation of gene expression in a chromatin context, cancer biology, plant biology, embryonic development, diabetes, cytoskeleton dynamics, and virology.

Students will be involved in exciting and interesting projects at the very edge of our current knowledge in these areas. They will learn how to formulate and test hypotheses, how to problem-solve and troubleshoot, and how to use state-of-the-art techniques and instrumentation including analytical ultracentrifugation and X-ray crystallography. A significant number of participants in this program have published the results of their projects in scientific journals.

Each student is assigned to a specific faculty member’s research laboratory, where the student works closely with the faculty mentor, post-doctoral associates, and graduate students.

Click here for the list of potential mentors and projects available summer 2025. The student participates fully in the life of the mentor’s lab. In addition, there are informal meetings of all program participants to exchange information on the research being done and to discuss areas of biochemistry/molecular biology that are of particular interest and excitement. There are also weekly meetings at which various scientists describe the latest advances in their own research or career opportunities in biomedical or biotechnology fields. Informal evening or weekend social, recreational, and cultural events with program participants and faculty provide for relaxation. The summer experience is capped by a mini-symposium at which program participants present a poster/report on their project and receive certificates of completion for the program.

Requirements

• Students who will graduate at the end of the Spring 2025 term are not eligible for this program. Participants must be either U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. or its possessions (NSF requirement).
• While there are no set course requirements, our REU Program is oriented towards students who have completed at least some college level biology and general chemistry.

Students from groups that are traditionally under-represented in science (women, under-represented ethnic and racial minorities, and those with physical challenges) are especially encouraged to apply. Also, students from smaller undergraduate institutions with limited opportunities for research are encouraged to apply.

Applying to the REU Summer Research Program

• Remember to upload an unofficial transcript as a pdf through the online application form.
• Ask two references (preferably Chemistry and/or Biology professors who know you well) to complete the program’s special online Recommendation form. An email with a special link will be sent to them after you have submitted the online application.

Application Due Date

• All materials should be received by Feb. 3, 2025.
• If you have questions or difficulties submitting your application, please email us or contact us at 970-491-5602.