Miller Summer Program in Animal Sciences

The objective of the Miller Summer Research Internship program is to introduce students to animal sciences research, emphasizing food and fiber producing animals. Animal Sciences faculty research a variety of areas, including: ruminant and nonruminant nutrition; reproductive physiology; genetics and molecular biology; environmental physiology; and production and management. Each student will be working directly within a laboratory under the supervision of an internationally recognized researcher. The participant will gain an understanding of recent advances in basic science and applied animal sciences research.  For more information click here. For an application click here.

Eligibility:

Applicants must meet the basic eligibility requirements. Students are expected to have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA and have completed 2 years of college. Selection is partially based on the applicant’s potential and motivation for future graduate study (PhD level) in animal sciences.

Pay:

The internship provides a stipend of $3,600, one hour of academic credit, travel to and from Columbia, on-campus housing and meals.

For more information, contact Linda Blockus, PhD, 150 Bond Life Sciences Center, 573-882-5979, BlockusL@missouri.edu; or William Lamberson, PhD, 159 Animal Sciences Research Center, 573-882-8234, LambersonW@missouri.edu.

Each summer, Maryland Sea Grant’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports fifteen students to conduct marine research on the Chesapeake Bay. It’s a special opportunity to develop your research skills and interests by working with top scientists to study one of America’s most significant coastal resources.

The REU program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is designed for students majoring in marine science, ecology, environmental science, biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, and mathematics.

During the 12-week program, each student works with a mentor on an individual research project at one of the two marine labs at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences located on the Chesapeake Bay:

• Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, Solomons, Maryland
• Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, Maryland

Research areas include:

Program Description: Summer programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide an opportunity to spend a summer working at the NIH side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world, in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research. The NIH consists of the 240-bed Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center and more than 1200 laboratories/research projects located on the main campus in Bethesda, MD and the surrounding area as well as in Baltimore and Frederick, MD; Research Triangle Park, NC; Hamilton, MT; Framingham, MA; and Detroit, MI.  NOTE: the number of positions in Hamilton, Framingham, and Detroit is limited.

Internships cover a minimum of eight weeks, with students generally arriving at the NIH in May or June. The NIH Institutes and the Office of Intramural Training & Education sponsor a wide range of summer activities including lectures featuring distinguished NIH investigators, career/professional development workshops, and Summer Poster Day.

To increase your chances of being offered a position, please do four things: (1) Watch the new Applying Successfully Video.  (2) Read the SIP FAQs carefully. (3) Read our suggestions for creating a successful application.  (4) After submitting your application, contact NIH investigators with whom you would like to work and explain why you would be a good addition to their groups.  You can identify NIH investigators with projects that interest you by searching the NIH Intramural Annual Reports. Use the text search feature to find project descriptions that contain the key words you enter.  You can then find contact information for the investigators in the NIH Enterprise Directory.

2014 Community College Summer Enrichment Program (CCSEP): In summer 2014, the NIH will again offer a special SIP program designed to recruit community college students to the NIH.  Students in CCSEP can take advantage of all the opportunities available to other SIP interns. In addition, they will make a commitment to completing an enrichment curriculum.  If you are a community college student and interested, please read about CCSEP.

Eligibility: The Summer Internship Program is for students who are at least sixteen years of age or older at the time they begin the program. To be eligible, candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. U.S. citizens are eligible to apply if they are enrolled at least half-time in high school or an accredited college or university as undergraduate, graduate, or professional students. Students who have been accepted into an accredited college or university program may also apply. Permanent residents must be enrolled in or have been accepted into an accredited institution in the U.S. to be eligible.

Stipend Information: The stipends for trainees are adjusted yearly; the level depends on education completed prior to starting at the NIH. For details, see the Trainee Stipends page.

Application Procedure: Prospective candidates must apply online. The application is available from mid-November to March 1. It requires submission of

• a curriculum vitae or resume,
• a list of coursework and grades (please note: no transcripts need to be sent at this time),
• a cover letter describing the applicant's research interests and career goals, and
• the names and contact information for two references.

Candidates may also specify the scientific methodologies or disease/organ systems that interest them.

Selection: The NIH Summer Internship Program is highly competitive.  In 2013, more than 6300 completed applications were submitted, and about 1000 interns were selected. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis from November through April by scientists in the Institutes and Centers of the NIH.  Individual scientists select their own summer interns and provide their funding; there is no centralized selection process.  For suggestions on how to increase your chances of being offered a position, please read the SIP Frequently Asked Questions.

Candidates will be informed of their selection by the hiring Institute, generally by May 1. Successful candidates will be required to submit the following documentation to their Institute or Center prior to beginning their training:

• Official high school, college, or graduate school transcripts
• Proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status. U.S. citizens may submit a copy of their birth certificate or passport. Permanent residents will need to provide a copy of their alien registration card.

Visit https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/sip for more details.

UMBC’s ACM student chapter has a new website that will be used to announce its activities and events as well as news about computing related opportunities and resources. The chapter is open to both undergraduate and graduate students interested in computing from all majors. Joining is free and is a great way to meet other students interested in computing and to participate in activities that will help you grow as a professional.

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, is the the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. It provides members with resources that advance computing both as a science and a profession. UMBC’s chapter meetings are open to all undergraduate and graduate students of any major. While you do not need to join ACM to be a part of the local chapter, the annual membership dues for students is only $19, heavily discounted from the non-student rate. See the ACM site for more information on student membership and its benefits.

For more information contact us at acmofficers AT lists.umbc.edu.

Name:  Wei Gao

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: University of Maryland, Baltimore - School of Medicine

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Biological Sciences

Expected Graduation Year: 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

Currently, my project seeks to determine the effect of Msi-1 on hPC1 expression in HEK cells. PC1 is an enzyme that has been shown to have proinsulin and proglucagon cleavage activity. Therefore, Msi-1 may play a key role in future research on regulating glucose levels for diabetic patients.

My work involves transfecting HEK cells with Msi-1 and comparing the levels of secreted protein and retained mRNA levels using enzymatic assays and western blots.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I love working and interacting with people who are so passionate not only about conducting their own research, but about helping me learn more about research as well. Everyone is always so eager and willing to give up their time to explain a foreign molecular concept to me or to help guide me through a new experimental protocol. Their extensive knowledge and unwavering patience day in and day out has helped me become a better biologist and a better scientist.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Do it! Contact the principal investigators directly and show them that you’re interested in their research by reading a few of their papers. During the interview, bring up any questions that you have about the methods they used or the results they found.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

Being relatively new to the research field, I find that every day in the lab is filled with learning experiences. Without a doubt, this experience has been meaningful to me because I have learned so much about science and scientific methods. However, more than that, I hope this research experience can be meaningful to others as well. Perhaps my results will one day be useful for designing a better treatment for diabetes.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

I love the idea that I am exploring uncharted territory with my work. Since Msi-1 has not been very well-researched, often times there are questions no one (not even Google!) knows the answer to. My job is to ask those questions and find those answers.

Name:  Wei Gao

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: University of Maryland, Baltimore - School of Medicine

Major(s)/Minor(s):  Biological Sciences

Expected Graduation Year: 2014

Briefly describe your internship, co-op, research, or service- learning opportunity, including your day-to-day tasks, responsibilities, and assignments.

Currently, my project seeks to determine the effect of Msi-1 on hPC1 expression in HEK cells. PC1 is an enzyme that has been shown to have proinsulin and proglucagon cleavage activity. Therefore, Msi-1 may play a key role in future research on regulating glucose levels for diabetic patients.

My work involves transfecting HEK cells with Msi-1 and comparing the levels of secreted protein and retained mRNA levels using enzymatic assays and western blots.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization/company?

I love working and interacting with people who are so passionate not only about conducting their own research, but about helping me learn more about research as well. Everyone is always so eager and willing to give up their time to explain a foreign molecular concept to me or to help guide me through a new experimental protocol. Their extensive knowledge and unwavering patience day in and day out has helped me become a better biologist and a better scientist.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Do it! Contact the principal investigators directly and show them that you’re interested in their research by reading a few of their papers. During the interview, bring up any questions that you have about the methods they used or the results they found.

How do you see your experience as meaningful? This might involve skills you’ve gained, information you’ve learned, mentors you’ve connected with, or projects you’ve completed.

Being relatively new to the research field, I find that every day in the lab is filled with learning experiences. Without a doubt, this experience has been meaningful to me because I have learned so much about science and scientific methods. However, more than that, I hope this research experience can be meaningful to others as well. Perhaps my results will one day be useful for designing a better treatment for diabetes.

Please provide a short quote about what you liked most about your position / earning internship credit / the internship placement process / the Shriver Center:

I love the idea that I am exploring uncharted territory with my work. Since Msi-1 has not been very well-researched, often times there are questions no one (not even Google!) knows the answer to. My job is to ask those questions and find those answers.