Summer Undergraduate Research
National Science Foundation Summer Integrative Neuroscience Experience (SINE)
PAID, Summer Research Experience at FAU Jupiter!
Admission OPEN for 2022!!! Application deadline: March 18, 2022
Contact: Mr. Glenn Malone, gmalone@fau.edu
- Open to undergraduates from ANY institution
- This paid, ten-week program focuses on training, mentoring, research, and an overall experience for students that prepares them for graduate studies or careers in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) disciplines.
- Participants typically work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with one hour for lunch.
- Undergraduate researchers are paid $600/week along with a $25/week meal allowance, per week.
- Participants are housed in apartment-style dormitories on FAU’s Jupiter Campus, just three miles from the beach.
- Students work in laboratories at FAU Jupiter, Scripps Research, or the Max Plank Florida Institute for Neuroscience, and have the opportunity to interact with other FAU REU programs.
HOW TO APPLY
Click here for the application! In addition, submit the following information to gmalone@fau.edu.
- One-page statement of interest that describes your motivations, expectations and long-term objectives.
IMPORTANT DATES
Application Deadline: March 18, 2022
First Round Notification Date: March 25, 2022
Start Date: May 27, 2022
End Date: August 2, 2022
ELIGIBILITY
Undergraduate students majoring in science or engineering.
U.S. Citizen or permanent resident.
Minorities and women are strongly encouraged to apply.
2022 PROJECTS
Dr. McLean Bolton, Max Planck Florida Institute, Disorders of neural circuit function.
The goal of this project will be to use histology and imaging to gain new insights into the neural circuit organization giving rise to neuropsychiatric disorders.
Dr. Erik Duboue, FAU, The effects of early life stress on brain development.
Exposure to stress in early life can impact brain development and adult behavior, yet surprisingly little is known about the cellular mechnisms of this effect. We have found that zebrafish exposed to stress early in life, have elevated levels of stress hormones and heightened response to stressful stimuli as adults. This project will use whole-brain imaging to examine the effects of early life stress on brain structure and function.
Dr. Gregg Fields, FAU, Developing therapeutics for cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.
Our lab uses chemical approaches to better understand cancer progression and to develop novel anti-cancer therapeutic agents. Our lab has incorporated elements of organic synthesis, structural biology, cell biology, chemical biology, enzymology, and molecular biology in the pursuit of understanding basic mechanisms of metastasis, with a focus on proteolytic regulation of signal transduction pathways, and our proteolysis research has recently branched out to include neurodegenerative diseases, arthritis, and sepsis.
Dr. William Ja, Scripps Florida, Discovering the genetic and neural regulation of diverse behaviors.
Neurological behaviors studied in the Ja lab circadian rhythms, sleep, and feeding, using the fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Previous summer projects have explored the extended natural rhythms of a long-lived mutant, how alcohol consumption affects post-meal sleepiness, and the effect of social isolation on physiology and metabolism.
Dr. Naomi Kamasawa, Max Planck Florida Institute, Electron Microscopy Core: reconstructing synaptic anatomy through analysis of synaptic ultrastructure and protein distribution.
The goal of this project will be to deploy multiple electron microscopy techniques and quantitative approaches to understand how synaptic proteins are localized in the membrane. A secondary goal will be to produce new data visualization techniques to aid in demonstrating the complexity of synaptic organization.
Dr. Ning Quan, FAU, Investigating the neuroimmune suprasystem.
The focus of my lab is how the nervous system and immune system forms a combined neuroimmune suprasystem. We are interested in understanding how these two systems communicate with each other to modulate each other's function. We use multiple techniques in molecular biology, neuroscience, and immunology to accomplish this goal.
Dr. Robert Stackman, FAU, Neural circuits influencing hippocampal-dependent learning and memory in mice.
The project is to examine the contribution of the locus coeruleus-hippocampus dopaminergic circuit to the consolidation of non-spatial and spatial memory in mice. We have determined that consolidation of hippocampal-dependent object memory in mice is significantly enhanced by the post-training activation of dopamine D1 receptors. A similar enhancement in object memory consolidation was observed in mice that were briefly exposed to a novel context after training. We are now testing the effects of manipulating the locus coeruleus-hippocampus circuit to determine its participation in these modulatory effects on memory.
Dr. Henriette van Praag, FAU, The effects of exercise on Alzheimer’s progression.
This project aims to evaluate how exercise and myokines may modify memory function, adult hippocampal neurogenesis, neurotrophin levels and pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s Disease. Both in vivo and in vitro approaches will be utilized
Dr. Qi Zhang, FAU, Synaptic physiology and Alzheimer’s disease.
In addition to general molecular and biochemistry methods, my lab is doing a lot of live-cell fluorescence imaging and using human neurons derived from iPSCs as well as AD animal models.
Nambu Memorial Summer Research Experience (REU) for Undergraduates
PAID, Summer Research Expereince at FAU Jupiter!
Admission is open for the 2022 application: Deadline to apply is April 15th!
Contact: Mr. Glenn Malone, gmalone@fau.edu
- Open to undergraduates at Florida Atlantic University.
- Offers intensive research opportunities, with summer stipend, to support to perform cutting-edge research in life science labs on the FAU Jupiter campus.
- These scholarships are exciting and once-in-a-lifetime chances to perform research while expanding scientific expertise through networking with fellow undergrads and faculty mentors, writing and presentations skills.
- Students often complete a thesis through the ten-week program that runs 28 hours/week during the summer semester, with the option of continuing their research into the next academic year. The REU experience concludes by highlighting student accomplishments and summer research projects at the annual Nambu REU Research Day.
- Established in the memory of the late Dr. John Nambu, Professor in the Biological Sciences Department.
Click here for the application and more info!
