Who, What and Where In-Department Directed Reading In-Department Research Out-of-Department Directed Reading Out-of-Department Research Funded Summer Research Summer Research Credit

IMPORTANT DATES

§  Oct 1, 2012 Summer research petitions and papers due for work done Summer 2012

§  OCT 1, 2012 Petitions due for new Out-of-Department Research projects for Autumn quarter

§  Jan 14, 2013 Petitions due for new Out-of-Department Research projects for Winter quarter

§  Apr 08, 2013 Petitions due for new Out-of-Department Research projects for Spring quarter

Research & Funding

Who, What and Where

Participating in research as an undergraduate can be a very rewarding experience. Approximately 2/3 of Biology majors pursue an independent research project at some point during their undergraduate careers; some also pursue honors, and some do not.

Biology majors in particular have a plethora of research opportunities in the Biology Department, departments in the Medical School, and labs at Hopkins Marine Station. To get started in searching for a potential lab, following are some great resources to consider:

  1. Biology Department faculty. You can search the entire page, or specify a sub-discipline within Biology if your interests are more specific.
  2. Hopkins Marine Station. Click on the "Faculty" link at the top of the page. This site is specific to Biology faculty housed at the Marine Station.
  3. Community Academic Profiles. This site allows you to search for faculty labs in the Stanford Medical School. You can search by name, department, or even keyword. This is a useful tool if you know generally what area of research you would like to pursue, but are unsure of a specific lab that does what interests you.

Once you have narrowed down 3-5 of your top choices, use the following steps as a general guide:

DO

  1. Research the faculty member's lab website thoroughly. This will give you a lot of information including how large the lab is, what types of projects are currently being pursued, how many and what kinds of publications are getting done
  2. Read through a few publications to familiarize yourself with the research. This will give you something to talk about when you set up a meeting with the faculty member, and it also shows a genuine interest in his/her work.
  3. Email the faculty member asking for an appointment. Be sure to mention that you have looked through his/her website and publications. This shows that you have made an effort and have an interest in him/her specifically.


DON'T

  1. Send a generic email simply asking if there are spaces in his/her lab. This is not compelling, and you may not even get a response.
  2. Assuming that the faculty member knows who you are is a bad idea. Be sure to briefly introduce yourself as a Biology major interested in pursuing ____.

Once you have found and been accepted into a lab, you are strongly encouraged to enroll in academic credit for your work in the lab. The general formula for determining units is: 1 unit=3 hours of work per week. If you are doing research with a Biology or Hopkins faculty member, read through the In-Department Research information below. If you are doing research with a non-Biology faculty member, read through the Out-of-Department Research information below.

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In-Department Directed Reading

Directed Reading is a great way for students to learn the literature of a specific field for general interest, or as a prelude to beginning a potential research project. BIO 198 is available for students wishing to do a Directed Reading with a Biology Department faculty member. This course entails journal reading and discussion and may also involve participation in a laboratory research seminar along with library research. The grading policy for BIO 198 is satisfactory/no credit. BIO 198 units may be used toward Biology elective requirements, but cannot be applied towards a departmental Honors project. No petition is required to enroll in BIO 198, and students in any major are welcome to enroll provided they have permission from the faculty member.

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In-Department Research

Students doing research in Biology Department labs can study anything from cell biology, genetics and plants to ecology, conservation, and marine biology. To get academic credit for Biology Department research (which can also count toward Biology major electives and Biology Honors requirements!), students should enroll in their faculty member's section of BIO 199 (if on the main campus) or BIOHOPK 199H (if at Hopkins Marine Station). Be sure to discuss the number of units and grading option ahead of time with your faculty research advisor. No petition is required to enroll in BIO 199 or BIOHOPK 199H, and students in any major are welcome to enroll provided they have permission from the faculty member.

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Out-of Department Directed Reading

Directed Reading is a great way for students to learn the literature of a specific field for general interest, or as a prelude to beginning a potential research project. BIO 198X is available to declared Biology majors only and is for students wishing to do a Directed Reading with a faculty member outside the Biology Department. This course entails journal reading and discussion and may also involve participation in a laboratory research seminar along with library research. The grading policy for BIO 198X is satisfactory/no credit. BIO 198X units may be used toward Biology elective requirements, but cannot be applied towards a departmental Honors project. Biology majors interested in enrolling in BIO 198X must submit a petition.

Deadlines
Autumn 2012-2013 – October 1, 2012, 3:00pm
Winter 2012-2013 - January 14, 2013, 3:00pm
Spring 2012-2013 - April 08, 2013, 3:00pm


Petition Procedure
To petition for BIO 198X credit, students must submit the following items to Gilbert 108:

  1. Petition and Research Sponsorship forms
  2. Project Description. This should be 1-2 pages in length, double spaced with the following items included:
    1. Description of the research of the lab in which you are working.
    2. Brief explanation of what you hope to learn through the experience.
    3. List of the research articles you plan to read and discuss, and with whom you will be doing the reading.
    4. Print this handout and give it to your sponsor.

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Out-of-Department Research

Many students find research opportunities in labs outside the Biology Department. For a list of non-Biology labs that have recently taken Biology majors, please click here. BIO 199X is available for declared Biology majors only. Students only need to petition ONCE to work with the same sponsor. If you choose to switch labs, you will be required to submit a new petition.

BIO 199X is available for Biology majors involved in research which is substantially independent. Although this course should be used once students have a project of their own, the first Quarter may be used to learn essential techniques while helping with other's projects. Although the independent project may be suggested by the sponsor and developed with their guidance, the student is expected to be involved in the planning and execution of experiments, analysis and interpretation of data, presentation of results and evaluation of the research. The research field is expected to encompass biological concepts and processes.

Appropriate Research Projects. Projects should be empirical or theoretical biological research, consisting of independent and original scientific work by the student. Applied clinical, environmental, or technological studies may be appropriate in cases where there is a major analytical, experimental or observational component to the study, involving independent conceptual, field or laboratory work by the student. Simply collecting data or samples from human subjects or interviewees, collating data, doing repetitive technical work, or doing statistical analysis is not sufficient for Bio 199X credit. Students should discuss the nature of their projects with their Departmental advisors prior to petitioning for approval, if there is any doubt about appropriateness.

Research Sponsors. Sponsors should be Academic Council members (assistant, associate, or full professors) if at all possible. If you are not sure if your research sponsor is an Academic Council member, look in the Stanford Directory - an asterisk "*" next to the telephone number of the faculty member indicates membership in the Academic Council. Another way to find out if your sponsor is Academic Council is to search on StanfordWho in the "Search in Stanford view." If your sponsor is not an Academic Council member you will need to find a faculty member in the Deparment of Biology to serve as a co-sponsor of your research. This can be your faculty advisor if appropriate.

Deadlines
Autumn 2012-2013 – October 1, 2012, 3:00pm
Winter 2012-2013 - January 08, 2013, 3:00pm
Spring 2012-2013 - April 08, 2013, 3:00pm


Petition Procedure
To petition for BIO 199X credit, students must submit the following items to Gilbert 108:

  1. Petition and Research Sponsorship forms
  2. Project Description. This should be submitted to both your research sponsor and faculty advisor, along with the above petition form well ahead of the deadline allow for enough time for them to review your proposal and give you feedback for revisions! The proposal should be at least 2-3 pages in length (double spaced, not including references and figures) and should be organized as described below using the following headings. Also please include your Sponsor's name and department at the top.
    1. Title of Research Project
    2. Objective of research. Briefly and clearly state the question that your research is designed to address. Explain the specific aims of the research.
    3. Background and Significance. Using appropriate background information which is appropriately referenced, indicate the significance of your research.
    4. Experimental design. Describe the project design you will use to carry out your research including methods and materials. Indicate how these techniques will allow you to address your research question. Note the following: 1) research involving vertebrate animals requires that your sponsor have an approved Animal Use Protocol on file with the University Panel on Laboratory Animal Care; 2) work with radioactive substances requires certification in the University’s radiation safety course; 3) work with pathogenic organisms requires special training and precautions 4) work with human material requires that you complete the Human Subjects Training. If any of these apply, describe them in your proposal.
    5. Possible results. Describe the expected outcome of your research, indicating how the data collected will be used to draw conclusions regarding the research question. Throughout your proposal, be specific about your own work: do not simply state the goals of the lab in which you are working. Stress the biological concepts you are using and your understanding of the methodology. The proposal should clearly show some level of independence in your research, the feasibility of the project, and an understanding of the basic biology involved. If this is your first Quarter of Bio 199X and you do not yet have your own project, but are helping someone else in the lab on their project while learning concepts and methods, then describe the project that you are working on instead.
    6. References
  1. Print this handout and give it to your sponsor.

Biology MS students
If you are in the Biology MS program and are doing research with a non-Biology Department faculty member, you need to apply for BIO 300X in order to count the units toward your MS program. The same rules and requirements apply, but you are applying for 300X, not 199X.

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Funded Summer Research

There are two VPUE-funded summer research programs to which students (particularly freshmen and sophomores) are strongly encouraged to apply:

  1. Summer Research in Biology (SRB) Program. This on-campus Summer Research in Biology Program offers internships to Stanford students to join participating faculty members in their labs for already-establised projects.
  2. Field Studies Program (FSP). This program takes Stanford students off campus - out into the field and around the world - to experience environmental, ecological and animal behavior research through already-established projects. Often, data is collected in the field and analyzed on campus.

More specific information about these programs is available here.

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Summer Research Credit

As a courtesy to declared Biology majors only, the Biology Department has established a Summer Research Credit petition process. This means that if you conduct independent research during the summer and would like to receive academic credit for the work, you can do so through this petition process. Instead of enrolling in the units during the summer quarter, this approved petition allows you to add the units to your schedule in the academic year immediately following the summer in which you did the work.

Summer credit for BIO 199 or 199X is available to Biology majors working both within and outside of the Department of Biology. Students that worked with non-Biology faculty members are required to also petition for 199X. See the Out-of-Department Research page for more information about petitioning for BIO 199X.

Units
Units are determined based on the total number of hours worked. During the summer students should earn 1 unit for every 40 hours of work. Students may receive a maximum of 10 units for full time research (40 hours/week) for the full 10 weeks of research over the summer (400 hours total). 40 is the maximum number of hours that can be counted per week. Students working less than 10 weeks will receive proportionately fewer units for full time research (ex: for 8 weeks, students may receive 8 units). NOTE: Units earned Summer Quarter may not be added retroactively; the units must be added into the Autumn, Winter or Spring Quarters immediately after the summer in which the work was done. Students continuing the research into the academic year will add the summer units to those earned during the school year. There will not be a separate course on the academic transcript to indicate that it was work done over the summer - all summer work will be added as BIO 199 units.

Students should remember that the maximum number of units allowed per quarter is 20; getting the Summer Research Petition approved does NOT permit students to go over this maximum.

Since units earned for summer work will be combined with units earned during the school year, all units must be enrolled with the same grading option, since it is not possible to register for the same course twice, with different grading options. If you are planning to continue your research throughout the year, you may not need these summer units! It is a lot of paper work, plus the 10 page paper, and unless this is your only opportunity to earn BIO 199 units, you should seriously consider whether you need these units. Not all life experiences need to earn academic credit!

Petition Procedure
To receive academic credit for work performed over the summer, you must submit the following items to the Student Services Office in Gilbert 108 by 3:00pm on October 1, 2012:

  1. Summer Research Petition form WITH signatures
  2. 10-page paper. This paper should first be submitted to your research sponsor and faculty advisor WITH the petition form for his/her review and approval. This means that you should finish it well before this deadline to allow enough time for your sponsor and advisor to read it and give you feedback! The paper must be appropriately referenced and organized as follows with the headings shown below:

o   A. Your Name and Title of Project

o   B. Introduction. Using appropriate referenced background information, indicate the significance of your research.

o   C. Materials and Methods. Describe the experimental design used to carry out your research including methods and materials. Indicate how these techniques will allow you to address your research question.

o   D. Results. Describe the outcome of your research. Indicate how the data collected was used to draw conclusions regarding the research question. Be sure to indicate your role in all aspects of the project, from conception of idea to experimental design through data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

o   F. References & Appendices - figures and graphs of data may be included.

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