Howard Hughes Grant To Aid Science Education

Three North Carolina research universities have received a total of $5 million in grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to support "programs that can become models for bringing undergraduate teaching and research closer together, as well as exposing undergraduates to emerging fields in biology and to the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of the life sciences," according to the Institute's announcement.

As part of $80 million in grants for 44 research universities:

• Duke University received $1.8 million to support its program "Making Meaning of Genomic Information" aimed at infusing active, inquiry-based learning into the undergraduate curriculum.
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) received $1.6 million to support bioscience education outreach efforts to secondary schools and historically minority universities in the state.
• North Carolina State University received $1.6 million to support undergraduate research internships, a Web-based curriculum project and science programs for high school teachers and students.

Said HHMI President Thomas R. Cech of the latest grants, "Biology is progressing so rapidly and interfacing with so many other disciplines that undergraduate teaching runs the risk of substituting quantity for quality. Through these grants, the Institute is providing resources to help universities bring their undergraduate science teaching up to the level of their research programs."

The Duke program, "Making Meaning of Genomic Information," will include a summer research programs for undergraduates, to enable them to do laboratory research using state-of-the-art research equipment and working with Duke scientists. The program also will support faculty training, and development of curricula, equipment and laboratories to improve teaching in human genomics; evolutionary biology and phylogenetics, and gene-environment interaction. Finally, the Duke program will support summer research for area high school students, as well as teachers' training programs in genomics and bioinformatics.

Said Duke project director Robert Thompson Jr., dean of Trinity College and professor of psychology: Social and Health Sciences, "The genomics revolution is transforming modes of inquiry and analysis in the life sciences. We are very grateful for this generous grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute because it enables us to better link undergraduate science education to our faculty strengths in the biological and mathematical sciences and institutional initiatives in genome science and policy.  Also, it allows us to provide opportunities for undergraduates to develop the conceptual, computational, and representational skills necessary to understanding the role of genetic variation in populations and organisms."

UNC's project will focus on its 40-foot traveling science laboratory, named Destiny, which allows secondary students the opportunity to become even more engaged in the sciences through hands-on experiments and assists in professional development of teachers. The grant also will help create a BioScience Sharium, a "virtual" bioscience learning environment that connects historically minority universities to science resources and to each other. This technology initiative is provided through the Partnership for Minority Advancement in the Biomolecular Sciences, an education consortium between UNC and North Carolina's seven historically minority universities whose goal is to increase diversity in the science professions by reforming bioscience education.

Said partnership director, UNC biology professor and the grant's principal investigator Skip Bollenbacher, "Our goal is to help enhance the nation's science education by reforming the learning process, placing in the hands of the students - as well as in their minds - the thrill of exploration and the gratification of discovery."

N.C. State's project will raise student awareness of the broader array of scientific research opportunitiesoffered at N.C. State and other institutions through increased collaboration with other N.C. State undergraduate research initiatives. Summer research internship experiences will be lengthened from eight weeks to 10 weeks, while the Reaching Incoming Students Enrichment (RISE) Program - which introduces N.C. State's top freshmen to research at the university - will be enhanced. It will provide new undergraduate researchers with a Web-based course of orientation modules, which will include instruction in philosophy and ethics of science, rules governing animal use and care, lab and field safety techniques, and more. The program will also expand science education opportunities for middle and high school students across the state.

Said N.C. State project director Professor of Zoology Charles Lytle, "The N.C. State project will engage students in science from the formative pre-college stages through undergraduate studies leading them into graduate or professional schools. Furthermore, we will assist others in building strong undergraduate research programs in their departments and campuses."

HHMI is a medical research organization whose principal mission is biomedical research. HHMI employs 336 Hughes investigators who conduct basic research in HHMI laboratories at 70 medical centers and universities nationwide. Through its complementary grants program, the Institute supports science education in the United States and a select group of biomedical scientists abroad.

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