Co-instructors & Research Mentors: Ben Geller (geller@umd.edu), Satarupa Das (dass@umd.edu), Pei-Wen Chen (chenp2@mail.nih.gov)

NIH Research Mentors: Rebecca Burgess (burgessrc@mail.nih.gov), Linda Zane (linda.zane@nih.gov)

Faculty Research Mentor: Wolfgang Losert (wlosert@umd.edu)

Undergraduate Learning Assistants (LAs): Nicki Ruszkay (biology, nruszkay@terpmail.umd.edu), Taylor Goldbeck (biology, taygold@terpmail.umd.edu), Sam Arrington (physics, samarrington@gmail.com), Zeynep Karakas (physics, z.n.karakas@gmail.com), Max Kushner (biophysics, mkushne1@terpmail.umd.edu)

Course Meeting: Fridays 2-3:50 pm, Physics 1219

Course Research Meeting Space: Physics 4222 and 4340

Office Hours: Ben Geller (Physics 1322, by appointment), Satarupa Das (223 Energy Research Facility Building, Room 0201, by appointment), Pei-Wen Chen (by appointment on Fridays)

Course Goals:

•  Do authentic question-driven research at the boundary of physics and biology. Engage in asking questions that drive the research you conduct.

•  Build and refine scientific models.

•  Learn to work collaboratively. Share your thoughts. Listen carefully to the thoughts of your peers. Respect the ideas of others, especially when you disagree. Participate in discussions and small group tasks. Learn from each other.

•  Learn to think analytically. Look for hidden assumptions. Compare and contrast plausible perspectives. Check ideas against your past experiences. Ask critical questions. Notice inconsistencies in arguments, and entertain counter-arguments.

•  Develop intellectual curiosity and tolerance. Remain open to new ideas and ask questions when you’re not sure you understand. Reflect on what you are learning, and try to think about things in new ways.

•  Build a supportive community among your peers and mentors based on the values articulated above.

Weekly Course Requirements:

Reading Reflection.  Each week you will be assigned one reading (journal article portion, textbook section, figure from a paper, or research-related news article, etc) to read thoroughly, and will post a brief summary of the reading (about one page, single-spaced) on our course research blog prior to the Friday seminar. You will title these posts "Weekly Reading Reflection." Your post must a include a question that you are left with after doing the reading - we will read these and address some of them in seminar on Friday.  These reading reflections are due by Thursday at 5 pm each week.

Research Blog Reflection. You will each be expected to post a research progress update each week on our course research blog. Each week you will make a post titled "Weekly Research Update" (about a page) summarizing the work you did that week with your group, any insights gained, things that are confusing you, and questions you’d like to explore with your group going forward, etc. We will read your reflections each week and provide feedback. These research updates are due by Monday at 5 pm each week.

Collaborative Research Group Meeting. Each week you will meet with your research group (along with LAs and a course instructor) for 3 hours outside of seminar to look at data, discuss and analyze results, and plan next steps in your project. You will maintain a lab notebook during these meetings, which will help you write your research blog reflections (see above) each week.

One-time Course Requirements:

Journal Club Facilitation. Twice during the semester our seminar time will be devoted to “Journal Club.” During one of those seminar meetings, you and a partner will facilitate the in-class discussion of a portion of that week’s assigned journal paper. Each journal club will include multiple papers with different viewpoints. More information will be provided.

Elevator Talk. Once during the semester you will get practice with describing and promoting your research in a short, 2-minute "elevator talk" to your peers and instructors. More information will be provided.

Final Research Paper.  Toward the end of the semester, you will write a 8-10 page research paper (in the form of a standard journal article) describing your findings. More details will be provided as the semester progresses.

Final Research Presentation to the Seminar. At the end of the semester, your research group will give a 30-minute presentation to the class, presenting your results. More details will be provided as the semester progresses.

Final Poster Session.  At the end of the semester, you will create a research poster that summarizes your work during the course and will be presented to interested students and faculty. More details will be provided as the semester progresses.

NIH Visit.   Once (or more) during the semester, your group will visit NIH to collect data and observe .

Assessment:

15% Weekly Reading Reflections (including one question) posted to the course research blog (due Thursday 5 pm)

15% Weekly research updates posted to the course research blog (due Monday 5 pm)
10% Engagement in 3 hours of weekly collaborative research group meetings (to be arranged with your group)

10% Journal club facilitation (once during semester, with another student, during seminar meeting time)

5%   Elevator talk (once during semester, during seminar meeting time)

15% Final research paper (due near end of semester, individually)

15% Final oral presentation of research (near end of semester, with research group)

15% Final poster session (end of semester, individually)

One free pass on a late assignment (up to 1 week late).  After that, no credit without valid excuse in advance.