BIOLOGY 1AL
HHMI COURSE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
2007-2011
The pace of progress in biological research is tremendous, which places a huge challenge on keeping undergraduate instruction in the Biological Sciences up to date. This challenge is especially acute in laboratory courses. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has given UC Berkeley a $1 million award to be used to update undergraduate training in biology. We intend to devote all these funds to a focused program designed to update the Bio 1A laboratory class.
This multi-year project began in the summer of 2007, and has included contributions from Professor Rine, HHMI teaching fellow Jacob Mayfield, 3 teams of talented undergraduates, and Berkeley High School Biology teacher Nick Pleskac. So far the project has included developing the NCBI, PCR and sequencing laboratories, projects we feel accurately reflect the current state-of-the-art in research. This summer is the final summer of the HHMI program, and we plan to finish two large-scale research projects investigating human genetic variation and biofuels production by marine algae this year.
We will accept applications through April 20th, interview candidates after that, and hope to fill the positions by April 26th.
Undergraduate Course Development Aide Position for Summer 2010
Commitment:
Full time (40 hours/week) for 10 weeks at $10.68/hr = $4272.
Hours are roughly 9AM-5PM: you will NOT be able to take classes during the summer.
Earliest start date is May 24th and we will end by August 13th.
Job description:
Looking for a summer job unlike anything you’re friends are doing this summer? Feel like your coursework would be so much better if your professors would just listen to suggestions from the students? Want a hands-on course in real, modern biology? Spend 10 weeks this summer working to develop a new curriculum for Bio1AL that updates current labs and replaces others with primary research. Work with a team of experts and fellow undergraduates as we generate ideas for improving the course and then implement them. Troubleshoot the new labs, and provide valuable insight into what works and what doesn’t. Learn a lot of biology, get a chance to improve a course at UC Berkeley, and get paid to do it.
Duties:
Each summer, 3-4 new labs will be developed. The new labs will replace old labs during the following fall and spring semesters. By the end of the summer, the new labs must be fully developed, with all background and text for the lab manual written. Each lab must also be tested to ensure that the level is appropriate and the scope feasible in a 3 hour period. Undergraduate aides will be a critical link in meeting our goals. Your duties during the summer will include providing ideas for making the labs understandable to fellow undergraduates, giving feedback on the labs, performing the labs to make sure they work in the allotted time, and writing protocols. We are especially interested in students willing to try new things, and comfortable juggling multiple ideas and responsibilities.
Please complete the following questions and email to Dr. Jacob Mayfield at jamayfie@berkeley.edu
Name:
Lab Section number and GSI:
Write a brief personal statement:
Why do you want to participate in this project?
Ion Torrent, a new biotechnology company, recently introduced a sequencing technology called semiconductor sequencing. Their sequencing machines will be 1/10 the cost of other sequencers, and the cost to run a machine will be about $500 for 1.5 million base pairs of sequence. Please explain the difference between the Sanger sequencing you did in class and semiconductor sequencing in fewer than 200 words, as if you were writing a passage for the Bio1AL manual.
Please include the name and email address or phone number of a reference, including their relationship to you.