Orientation to Research

researchers in the lab smiling         researchers posing in the lab

Students spend 13 weeks engaged in biomedical & veterinary research under the direction of a faculty mentor. Students learn to work in a laboratory setting with other students, fellows, and technical staff. They work with their mentors before and during the summer to develop hypotheses, then design and carry out experiments to test those hypotheses. The mentors help the students prepare a brief research proposal to organize their summer program, then follow-up with helping to prepare a poster, slide presentation, and report on the results of the students’ research.

The Orientation to Biomedical Research begins in the spring semester and continues with the Orientation Workshop and weekly lunch meetings throughout the summer, including topics such as:

  • Preparing Research Proposals
  • Laboratory Safety
  • Ethical Use of Animals in Research
  • Responsible Conduct of Research
  • Reading & Writing Scientific Literature
  • Poster & Oral/Slide Presentations
  • Opportunities to continue exploring research careers

Some of these topics, such as Laboratory Safety & Responsible Conduct of Research, are covered using on-line instruction or by short sessions during the Spring Semester to allow students to begin their research without delay in May. For students from other colleges of veterinary medicine, appropriate alternatives will be provided.

Some of the weekly lunch meetings are devoted to Journal Clubs in which the student fellows discuss recent literature related to their research projects.