OVERVIEW

The BRITE REU at BU Bioinformatics focuses on computational and mathematical fundamentals of bioinformatics analysis through research projects in a broad range of topics, including gene regulatory networks, metabolic networks, analysis of microbial communities, synthetic biology, enzyme structure and function, machine learning methods for cancer subtype classification, and sequence analysis algorithms for identifying genetic variation.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

Each student is assigned a Bioinformatics faculty mentor and a graduate student mentor. Training activities include workshops on Python and R programming; parallel and cloud computing; scientific communication skills, including creating a poster and presenting a talk; scientific ethics and responsible conduct of research; and applying to graduate school. Participants also attend bioinformatics research and career opportunities talks and enjoy a variety of social activities with bioinformatics graduate students, including tours of Boston, museum visits, evening barbecues, and casual lunches on campus.

Students receive a stipend, housing, and an allowance for meals. Travel to and from Boston University is covered as well as travel to a national, regional, or BU sponsored undergraduate research conference in the fall to present a poster describing the summer research.

MORE INFORMATION

Start date: June 5, 2017

Number of Weeks: 10

Weekly Stipend: $525

Housing: apartment-style dorm on campus provided by BU Bioinformatics

Also included: BU fitRec membership

Travel: round trip airfare to Boston for out-of-state students

Fall Research Symposium: all students receive travel funds to present a scientific poster at a BU-sponsored or national undergraduate research conference

ELIGIBILITY

NSF REU participants must be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions and rising juniors or seniors enrolled in a degree program (part-time or full-time) leading to a baccalaureate or associate degree. Applicants should have an interest in Biological research and some quantitative training in Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or a closely related field. Women, minorities, students with disabilities, and veterans are STRONGLY encouraged to apply.

The BRITE REU is sponsored by the Boston University Bioinformatics Program and the National Science Foundation NSF-REU Program to increase access to graduate programs for underrepresented minority students, with the ultimate goal of increasing diversity at the STEM professoriate level.