Wednesday, May 18th, 2016
Pursuing a scientific career is intellectually exciting and practically important to society. Succeeding in a scientific career is both an art and a science. Being successful requires intelligence and expertise in the laboratory, but equally important, it requires skills in scientific writing, oral communication, and ethics. In the honors course, “Becoming a Scientist”, undergraduate Biology Honors students who are conducting independent laboratory-based research projects perform project-based learning through reading scientific papers, and through writing and oral communication of scientific results, while also gaining exposure to issues in scientific ethics and career paths. The students develop these skills using their thesis research project as a springboard. The course is divided into 5 modules: 1. Inspiring science and scientists, 2. Choosing your scientific problem, 3. Defining your scientific strategy (grant writing), 4. Honing your scientific communication skills, 5. Scientific ethics and career paths. The course is a mix of lecture, reading, writing, presentation and workshops. In the Spring semester, the class worked together to write the thesis, and to develop a presentation for their oral defense.
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From left to right
Xiaofei Lin (Bonneau Lab, NYU Biology/Courant)
“From snail toxin to therapeutic drug design: Computationally investigating α-conotoxin, α-GID, as a drug precursor to address diseases of the nervous system.”
Kristen Lee (Berger Lab, NYU Med)
“Bridging the Gap: Platelet and Endothelial Cell Activation via Serum-stimulation Further Link Cardiovascular Disease and Lupus.”
Apurva Parikh (Desplan Lab, NYU Biology)
“From worker to gamergate: uncovering the behavioral and morphological patterns associated with phenotypic plasticity in Harpegnathos saltator.”
Tanim Jain (Christiaen Lab, NYU Biology)
“Cells in Motion: The role of endocytic trafficking in regulating the migration of precardiac cells in Ciona intestinalis.”
Mohammad Sadic (Ercan Lab, NYU Biology)
“The X-Factor: Probing the Mechanism of Dosage Compensation Complex Spreading across the C. elegans X-chromosome.”
Priyanka Srivastava (Hochwagen Lab, NYU Biology)
“Fragile Genomes: Position dependent genomic instability in the repetitive ribosomal DNA array.”
John Yuen (Rockman Lab, NYU Biology)
“Why do males persist: the preservation of mating ability in androdioecious populations.”