There are ample opportunities for working with Biology faculty members on research or special projects. Undergraduates work with Biology faculty members at the bench or in the field to collect data on grant funded research. The students do this collaboreative work during the summer or academic year. In the summer students are paid for their time from faculty grants or from stipends that are part of competitive awards (see below). Often faculty members with NSF or NIH funding request supplemental funds from these agencies to support undergraduate summer research. These are called REU funds from NSF, for example.
During the academic year, many undergraduates carry out research and also often receive academic credit for this work. Students work with a faculty research advisor to design a project and submit the project description and a method for evaluation of the work to the department's advisor in charge of undergraduate research courses. Upon approval, students then enroll for research courses: Bio 191, 192 Research Apprenticeship; Bio 193, Bio 194 Internships; Bio 197, 198 Undergraduate Research; Honors 208, 209 Honors Research in Biology. The apprenticeship is designed for students in the first or second year to become acquainted with research. Internships are designed for students who want an experience outside UVM where they might work with the Medical Examiner, State Forensic Lab, a law firm specializing in intellectual property, a biotechnology firm, as examples. There must be an academic component minimally with a research paper and data analysis. Bio 197, 198 are the courses students enroll in when they are carrying out research in their junior and senior years. As for the apprenticeship and internship, the undergraduate must work with a faculty research advisor to design a project and a method of evaluation before the student begins the work. Senior students who are taking College Honors enroll in Honors 208, 209 Honors Research which requires a formal proposal to the Honors Committee to describe the honors thesis research topic.
Students in Biology can work with faculty members in our Biology department or search with their academic advisor for a laboratory and faculty advisor outside our department in one of the many life science laboratories, including clinical research laboratories in the College of Medicine. If an undergraduate wishes to enroll for academic credit for work with someone outside the department, our usual procedures are followed and there will be a department faculty member assigned as liaison to insure that the undergraduate has the best possible experience, when working in settings outside the Arts and Sciences College. For more information contact Research Coordinators: Prof. Alison Brody Alison.Brody@uvm.edu or Prof. Joseph Schall Joseph.Schall@uvm.edu
There are many ways in which undergraduate research is supported by competitive awards. Numerous faculty members, in Biology and also across the campus, support not only supplies but also student summer salaries from their research grants. The Vermont NSF and DOE EPSCoR Programs support summer research for UVM undergraduates also on a competitive basis. UVM Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Office runs a competitive grant program called the Undergraduate Research Endeavors Competitive Awards Program (URECA)that funds undergraduate research and also provides tuition scholarships.
Internships in Arts & Sciences
If for some reason credit within an Arts and Sciences department is not available to you, the Career Services Office provides information about other internship opportunities. Contact Courtney Lamontagne at 656-3450. For a complete listing, visit their web page at Career Services
Last modified August 25 2009 02:24 PM
