Undergraduate Research Projects

Guidelines: MMG 197/198; 297/298

Premise:

Undergraduate research course work should be considered just as any other course within the Department. The Course Director is defined as the faculty member responsible for guiding the student’s research. The Course Director is expected to make clear to the student what the expectations are with respect to the particular project and its scope. The student must be informed of each of the parameters described below prior to initiating the project. The student’s Academic Advisor should also be informed of these expectations. The Student, Course Director, and Academic Advisor are required to sign the Undergraduate Research Proposal Cover Sheet and return the signed form to the Undergraduate Program Director at the beginning of the semester.  Here’s a list of past undergraduate research projects.  Projects may be eligible for CALS Distinguished Undergraduate Research (DUR) Honors should the student choose to submit them to the CALS Academic Awards Committee (see CALS DUR Guidelines).

Course Credits :

Course credits will be assigned in accordance with University guidelines, which assume that students should work 3-4 hours per week for 1 research credit. It is understood that a particular research project undertaken may require more time than that allotted and, should this be the case, the student and the Course Director may discuss the awarding of additional credit.

Completion of Projects:

There are two requirements for this course at the end of the semester: (1) the student must either write a research paper including: an Introduction to the research area, a Materials and Methods section, a Results and Discussion section, and a References section, or produce a research poster that will be displayed outside the lab or on the MMG Undergraduate Bulletin Board (Stafford, First Floor); and (2) the student must orally present his/her results at a lab meeting or a regular Departmental seminar (choice is the discretion of the Course Director).

Grading:

Assignment of grades is the responsibility of the Course Director (grades will be given to Douglas Johnson, Director of the Undergraduate Program, during Final Exam week). The grade will be assigned in accordance with the expectations agreed upon between the student and the Course Director and should take into account the student’s performance within the lab (i.e., reliability, work ethic, interest level, etc.), the student’s research paper/poster, and the student’s oral presentation. Grades should not be assigned solely on amount of research productivity.

2012 MMG Grads

  • What our students have to say...

    The classes that were offered through the MMG department were among the best I have taken during my time at UVM. The professors and lecturers in the department are very knowledgable about their subjects, friendly, always had an open ear for students' questions and concerns, and prepared interesting classes as well as excellent experiments. One highlight for me was the possibility to perform independent undergraduate research focusing on molecular motors needed in fission yeast cytokinesis. The research I completed over a period of two semesters has further deepened my interest in the field of molecular biology and helped shape my future path following graduation which has led to my decision of pursuing a Ph.D. With the preparation that the MMG program gave me I had no problem getting into my number one choice molecular and cellular biology graduate program which I will be attending upcoming October.

    Keven (Molecular Genetics), graduated 2012