Biology/Chemistry 465
Independent Research Projects
Biology/Chemistry 465 is a research course, meaning that each student is
responsible for planning, executing and presenting his/her own independent
research project. Your project may involve any area of molecular biology,
biochemistry, or microbiology. You may extend experiments or ideas
that you began in another course or in a research setting. If you are
unsure what to work on, your instructor has a few projects available for
students or you can ask any biology or chemistry professor for ideas.
You are ultimately responsible for all phases of this project, but I strongly
encourage you to ask questions and discuss your project with your classmates
and professors. Our laboratory is scheduled for Tuesday afternoons
from 2:00 – 5:30. Except as noted below, you are not obligated to work
on your project during those times. Rather you may conduct your research
when it is convenient for you.
A specific research proposal must be handed in to me by 4:00 p.m. on Friday,
April 2nd. Your proposal should briefly explain the question you are
asking, your specific hypothesis and an outline of the experimental strategy
you will be using. After some revisions, you need to submit to me a
specific list of all materials that you will need – complete with their suppliers
and catalog numbers – by Friday, April 9th. On Tuesday, April
6th, we will meet during our lab time and you will have 15 minutes to explain
your research proposal to your classmates. Be sure to explain your
fundamental question, why your question is interesting and what experiments
you will use to answer your question. On Tuesday, May 4th, we will
meet again during our lab time and each student will discuss their progress.
Finally, during our lab time on Tuesday, June 1st you will make a formal
15-minute presentation of your research findings to your classmates.
A properly formatted research paper describing the products of your research
is also due at this time (June 1st). Finally, I will collect your laboratory
notebooks at three unannounced times during the term to follow your progress.
Therefore, bring your lab notebook with you every day to lecture. If
you have questions about the correct format of your lab paper or lab notebook,
consult the Biology
Student Handbook.