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A new set of courses will form the backbone of the HHMI funded project in introducing undergraduate students to research techniques early in their careers. These undergraduates will constitute the UCLA Undergraduate Research Consortium in Functional Genomics. They will
learn research in a structured learning environment. Yet, they will not perform preexisting laboratory experiments. They will, instead, have novel research projects whose outcome they will discover through the course of their studies.
The program consists of a lower division and an upper division component. The lower division component will follow a stricter format while the upper division courses will have individualized syllabi to suit the needs of each research student. Below are a list of frequently asked questions.
1. Why LS core designation?
LS1-4 are core courses required for all life science majors. We would like to aim at the brightest students irrespective of their majors who have an interest in research. Even a humanities major who consider themselves "premeds" will be eligible to take these courses.2. Why Lower Division?
Many UCLA undergraduates participate in research in individual laboratories. The problem is that they usually wait too long before approaching a Professor. The idea here is to attract students early (freshmen/sophomores), possibly even before they have signed into a major.3. Why not have the upper division LS 100 A,B,C as 199/190?
This is because it is not independent study in the same way 199/190 is supposed to be. The similarity with 199/190 is in the flexibility of the schedule. The dissimilarity is in the fact that there will be instructors present in a classroom setting to supervise specific research projects.4. Who will teach all these classes?
Dr. John Olson, who has extensive experience in both genetics and teaching, will run LS10H. We also have a senior Post-Doc, Dr. Gerald Call, with vast experience in this field to guide and supervise the LS100H students. Dr. Banerjee (the chair of MCDB) will teach some of the lectures and organize and plan the progress of the research. Also, members of the faculty will help with the instruction by giving quarterly research talks to expose the students to cutting edge research outside of Drosophila.5. Where will this be taught?
A 1500 sq ft laboratory suite in the Life Sciences building containing 15 fly stations, a molecular biology workbench, and a scanning electron microscope.6. What will be the final outcome of LS10H?
Students will maintain laboratory records and write reports. The data will be compiled into a database. The stocks generated will be made freely available to other investigators and a paper describing the different stages of the project will be published with all students who complete the courses as authors.7. What preparations are needed for LS 10H?
Students with AP biology credit should be able to complete LS10H and those with LS4(Introduction to Genetics) background will be very comfortable. In addition to biological research, students will also be exposed to lectures on research ethics, research careers, and modern research topics by experts.8. Isn't Drosophila Genetics too narrow a topic for the purpose?
We do not expect all of the students to become Drosophila geneticists. It is important to choose topics that are focused to obtain meaningful results while making the point that research is a way of life and a fundamental part of instruction. We expect most of these students to go to medical school. Perhaps they will consider becoming physician-scientists.
