Summer lab work gives seniors a jump start

By Steven Schultz

Princeton NJ -- For most Princeton molecular biology students, the decision about what to do for the summer before senior year is an easy one. In a tradition that has developed over the last 30 years, the majority spend the summer on campus beginning the independent laboratory research projects that will become their senior theses.

The majority of students majoring in molecular biology spend the summer before their senior year conducting laboratory research with Princeton faculty members. Seniors Jennie Milofsky (left) and David Gary worked in the lab of Professor Martin Weigert studying the disease lupus.

This year, about 30 of the 45 molecular biology seniors stayed for the summer, conducting research in areas from stem cells to genetics. They were joined by a few sophomores as well as seven students from other schools who also are working in Princeton molecular biology labs.

For those who participate, the experience is not merely an extension of the academic year. It is a chance to become immersed in a project and pursue questions with a focus that is hard to achieve during the academic year.

"It helps you focus and get excited about what you're doing," said Lou Ballezzi, a member of the student committee that coordinates the summer program.

For many, it also is the first taste of stepping away from the regimented approach of regular classes and labs. "It's exciting and disorienting at the same time, because there's not someone saying, 'Do this, do that,'" said Laura Shackelton, another student committee member.

It has been common for at least some seniors in biology to spend summers in the lab since the 1970s, said Ted Cox, professor of molecular biology. In the early years, students were paid through faculty grants and by organizations like the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. While some students are still funded by such sources, many are supported by a large grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute which the University first received 12 years ago.

The grant, which was recently renewed for $1.9 million over four years, provides a stipend to any molecular biology student who wants to pursue summer lab work. It also supports other initiatives, including the development of new undergraduate courses and a summer lab experience for high school teachers.

Cox, who is the principal investigator of the grant, has surveyed participants as long as 10 years after they graduated and found that the summer research experience has influenced many of their postgraduate schooling and career decisions. While a few have learned that laboratory research is not their calling, many have reported that it sparked or confirmed a continuing interest in research.

In particular, said Cox, a number of students who had planned to go to medical school have decided to pursue joint M.D./Ph.D. programs after their research experience at Princeton. "I often hear, 'I didn't realize I could combine medicine and research. I thought one excluded the other,'" said Cox.

Another measure of the program's success is the number of published papers that have resulted, although publishing is not the main goal. Producing such work would have been difficult without the summer-long headstart, said Cox. The department Web site lists 147 papers on which undergraduates are either lead or secondary authors in the last 18 years.

Regardless of whether the work is published, the seniors said it is good to be applying the knowledge accumulated in three years of coursework. "This is the real thing. It's what we're all building up to," said Jennie Milofsky.

The program also is intended to expose the students to many aspects of the research experience beyond the lab work. Throughout the summer, students give oral presentations of their work in research discussion groups headed by postdoctoral instructors. At the end of the program, they present their work at a poster session attended by molecular biology graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty.

In addition to providing them with an opportunity to discuss their work with experts, students said the program also gives them a more relaxed introduction to the department and each other. Ballezzi, for example, organized a weekly movie night, which draws students from other departments who are spending the summer doing research but are not part of a formal program.

"It builds up a camaraderie in the class," said senior Zehra Nizami. "You start to talk to each other about science, which we never did before."

The same applies within the labs as well. Nizami worked with fellow seniors Milofsky, Lisly Chéry and David Gary in the lab of Professor Martin Weigert. Each examined a different aspect of the autoimmune disease lupus, and they often consulted with each other regarding the direction and execution of their projects.

"We talk back and forth a lot," said Nizami.

And that is exactly what being an independent investigator is all about, said Weigert, who noted that he has been very impressed by the students: "They're learning a lot of things together, collaborating, comparing data. They've begun to look like a lab. It's remarkable."

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