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This is the Communication Portal for the Freshman Research Initiative.
Contents |
Introduction
The College of Natural Sciences is proud to present the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), a pilot program offering first year students the opportunity to initiate and engage in authentic research experiences in biochemistry, nanotechnology and molecular biology. While being supported and mentored by faculty and graduate students, freshmen will gain education through research in three different research streams. Forty-four students have been accepted to the program this year (2005-2006 school year). These students will experience research over one full year in a newly renovated, dedicated research lab. The program will expand to six streams and 30 students per stream in 2006-2007. The new research streams are being developed in biochemistry, molecular biology and computer sciences to accommodate student demand and faculty interest. We were also funded by both a Howard Hughes Grant and an National Science Foundation grant to help expand this new and unique way of teaching.
Most teaching lab classes explain a method a week that the students rarely apply, then the class is set up to grade primarily on reports without knowing if the students fully understand the topics. We have taken a different approach. We teach a few fundamental methods (agarose gels, UV spectrophotometry, Buffers, PCR, Transcription, etc) to help the students begin a semester long research project where they learn to collaborate and teach each other in new and exciting ways. As the semester progresses, new methods are taught in conjunction with the research involved. The students have reports, but the reports resemble research updates and the weekly classroom becomes a laboratory group meeting.
The students are evaluated on a few basic principals that all good researchers (and workers in general) should possess: Enthusiasm, Follow-Through, Absorptiveness, Synthesis, and Writing/Organizational Ability.
- Enthusiasm: How much desire the student has to learn the topics and apply them.
- Initiative: How often a student proceeds independently on an experiment.
- Follow-through: How well the student can complete an experiment in a timely manner, once asked to.
- Absorptiveness: How well the student understands the methods and can interpret data.
- Synthesis: How well the student can develop new ideas and apply the methods to new problems, then design relevant experiments to test those ideas.
- Organizational Ability: How well the student can explain or present ideas, describe the data and its meanings, manage time, and express themselves.
Core Knowlege Base
- BIO205/BIO170 - Biology
- CH204/CH107 - Chemistry
Others
- Excel - Management and Manipulation of Data
FRI Streams
Standard Operating Procedures
- Molecular Biology - Aptamers: Ellington. Selection of Aptamer Sequences against biomedically relevant targets
- Molecular Cloning - Biobricks: Browning. Using Biobricks to analyze mechanisms and regulation of eukaryotic protein synthesis
- Cellular Biology - Interactomes: Stevens. Building vertebrate and mammalian interactome maps
- Nano Chemistry - Nanoparticles: Stevenson. Template assisted synthesis of nanomaterials with catalysis applications
- Computational Chemistry - Nanoparticles: Henkelman. Calculations of the structure and catalytic properties of nanoparticles
- Plant Science - Plant Responses: Roux. Environmental stimuli of light and gravity alter patterns of growth and development in plants.
- Supramolecular and Organic Chemistry - Supramolecular Sensors: Ansyln. Synthesis of a library of peptidic receptors for the analysis of wine; indicator displacement assay.
- Neural Networks Research Group / Computational Intelligence in Games - NERO: Miikkulainen. Biologically-inspired computation such as neural networks and genetic algorithms.
- Evolutionary Biology - Viral Evolution: Bull. Experimental evolution of viruses on genotypic and phenotypic levels.
- Functional Genomics - Functional Genomics: Iyer. Next-generation sequencing-based research of transcriptional control and regulation.
- Organic Synthesis - The Synthesis of Small Molecules: Martin. The synthesis of small molecules serve as ligands for the protein MUP.
- Virtual Drug Screening - VDS: Robertus. Computational screening of drug candidates against known protein structures.
Other Information
- Keys - Requests must be made through Rhonda Lucius
- Key fobs should also, but they can be picked up (or delivered) from BSCSF. Contact Frederick J Jeziorkowski, fred@mail.utexas.edu. The key fobs are activated through BSCSF.
- For repairs or problems to PAI and possibly BIO or WEL, call Zone 1 Maintenance at 471-7728. You could also e-mail Sharon Lohse <lohsess@mail.utexas.edu>. Zone 1 folks ARE fantastic, they always come through. This includes leaks, room temperature, electrical, replacing lights, ceiling tiles--they are the "first responders" for routine maintenance and know where to go if more work is needed. If you have other questions, the default building manager is Katherine Reynolds <katereyn@mail.utexas.edu> or Ann Harasimowitz <aharasimowitz@mail.utexas.edu>.
Safety and Waste Disposal in FRI Laboratories
Alona Umali is responsible for this area of the FRI.
All laboratories are and will be (for starting labs) subjected to the standards set by the UT Austin Office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). Contact EHS at 471-3511.
The required responsibilities for researchers at UT Austin are stated in the memorandum given the UT Austin VP for Research, Required Responsibilities for Researchers at UT Austin.
Instruction, Enforcement, and Required Courses
Students in FRI are introduced to and instructed lab safety by taking required courses according to the time line below. Trainings are recorded via TXclass and are reviewable by Research Educators. You can find these courses by going to the UT EHS website http://www.utexas.edu/safety/ehs/train/
NOTE: Depending on the type of FRI lab, as instructed by the EHS inspector during the initial laboratory inspection, the following courses should be taken by users (REs, TAs, mentors, and students), unless otherwise specified below.
Semester 1 (Fall): Research Methods
- OH 101 Hazards Communication (online) - required for all FRI lab users
- OH 202 Hazardous Waste Management (online) -required for all FRI lab users
Semester 2 (Spring): Freshman Research Experience
- OH 102 Site-specific safety training
- given by laboratory heads (RE and/or TA)
- required for all users of FRI labs
- guidelines for conducting a site-specific safety training and recording training history can be found here: "Training Record Form"
- refresher OH 102 for returning mentors only
- OH 201 General Laboratory Safety (online) - required for all users of FRI labs
- OH 207 Biological Safety (not online, but registration to training is here) - required for mentors, TAs and REs of Biological stream labs only.
- CW512 - required for REs of streams using recombinant DNA and training is here)
Semester 3 (Summer or Fall): Advanced Research Experience, Independent Study
- Fire Safety Training FF205 link to schedule and registration here
Extra sessions for those who cannot make the available schedules in the link above should inform the respective RE. These extra sessions are usually an hour before or an hour after the regularly scheduled trainings found in the link above. Required for all users of FRI labs.
- OH 207 Biological Safety (not online, but registration to training is here) - required for all users of Biological stream labs only.
Since this is not done online, there will be a session or sessions conducted a week before the semester starts for those who cannot make the scheduled training by EHS. Please keep posted for the schedules arranged by Alona with EHS, starting Fall 2009.
- other courses may be required by the EHS, according to the nature of the FRI lab. Please communicate with the EHS inspector or email Mr. Wolfgang Bollich directly.
Safety Training History
To find out what safety training courses a lab user has taken, check here.
REs: Required Training Record [[1]]
Lab Coat Cleaning
It is recommended to have the lab coats cleaned twice a year. We've found a place in Austin that comes to pick them up and returns them in a couple days. They asks for a PO, so just email Rhonda the following information:
- Vendor: The Laundry Room
- Address: 2919 Manchaca Rd, Austin TX 78704-4824
- Contact: Paul Cameron
- Tel #: 512-413-6378
- Fax #: 512-441-9426
- Cost: $5 per coat
I will ammend this after we get the coats back from them
--Brad 17:40, 25 June 2009 (CDT).
Reporting Lab Incidents
All supervisors responsible for their respective streams must report incidents (exposure, injuries, failed containment or spills) to EHS.
Lab Requirements
- Eyewash
- Fire extinguisher
- Spill kit (make sure it is appropriate for your lab)
- First aid kit
- MSDS (http://www.utexas.edu/safety/ehs/msds/)
- Chemical Inventory (Blank Form)
- Waste Disposal
Communication
Blackboard
During the summers, many students are not registered for classes or are visiting from other schools. To add them to your blackboard account, you first need request access from the BB administrator. Just send a message to blackboard@austin.utexas.edu with the student's name, email address and UTEID. Once they have been added to the system (usually takes 24 hours), then you can search for them and include in your course.
Many of the individual streams start Facebook sites each hear/semester. If you would like to be added to one, please contact your RE. For instance, the Aptamer Stream can be found here 2007, 2008, 2009.
FRI Support Group
FRI Support_Group meetings are designed for students who have already spent a year in the FRI research labs. For Spring 2007, they are intended for any member of the pilot group of FRI students.
The purpose of these meetings is to provide continued support and community, a way of disseminating information to you about research-related opportunities, to help you prepare for the research forum, apply for scholarships or internships, look for other research positions, make career decisions, etc. We are also keen to use your feedback on ways to improve the program.
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