BCH4905
Science for Life Seminar, Fall 2013
Procedures for the Class
Or
How to ENJOY the semester
and GET AN “A” in
BCH4905, Science for Life
Seminar, Fall 2013
Listen Politely to Presentations
 Talking during class disturbs students
around you and disturbs Prof. Dunn
 Ask questions after presentation;
identify yourself
 ONE extra credit point for each good
question on the science; give TA your
name
 Only one question per student per day
Three Required Reports
 Write three reports, each worth 30 points. One
must be on a Professor
 Can be speakers or other Professor from the
program listing on website
 MUST conduct FACE-to-FACE interview in
professor’s office and/or laboratory, not phone or
email
 Learn about science in that lab, consider for a
research experience
Reports (continued)
 You MAY NOT copy from the website of the professor or his
lab to develop your report; TAs will check
 Professor must be tenure track [Not post-docs, techs,
instructors, or graduate students]
 Reports must be at least two pages and less than four pages;
single-spaced, 1 inch margins, 12 point font
 Bibliography is list of five publications from professor’s lab;
this is one extra page after the 2-3 pages of text of the report
Two reports can be from these alternatives:
 (1) Breakthroughs in Bioscience
 An Alternative report may be done by writing about one of
25 publications on a special website
 Website address:
http://opa.faseb.org/pages/Publications/breakthroughs.htm
 Summarize the publication in 2-3 pages, single spaced, one
inch margins, 12 point font
Alternative Reports: (2)
 (2) HHMI Investigators or HHMI International Scholars
 We will allow another type of alternative report on one of the many
HHMI Investigators at http://www.hhmi.org/research/investigators/
or HHMI International Scholars at
http://www.hhmi.org/research/scholars/
 No interview is required, but instead you can use a Google search on
the person’s name.
 Report must be in student’s own words; single-spaced, one inch
margins, 12 point font.
Alternative Reports: (3)
 Students may also view an on-line video from the collection
found at http://www.ascb.org/iBioSeminars/
 Then write a 2-3 page summary of the topic.
 Again, the summary must be written in the students own
words. Single-spaced, one inch margins, 12 point font
 No interviews allowed for this alternative.
Alternative Reports: (4)
 Fourth alternative for one of your three reports, view the 50
minute movie at the following link:
http://www.asbmb.org/uploadedfiles/Interactive/video/obsessed.swf
 Then write a 3 page report on what you see in the movie.
Single-spaced, one inch margins, 12 point font
 Also you can write a second (or third) report on a different
professor you have interviewed.
Alternative Reports
• No Bibliography is required for any of the
alternative Reports;
• Bibliography is ONLY REQUIRED for the report
on a professor
• ALL reports must be single-spaced, one inch
margins, with 12 point font, at least two full
pages.
Start Early
 Start now to set up interviews with faculty
you may be interested in
 Phone or email to request an interview
 In your email SUBJECT LINE, put
“Freshman (or sophomore) eager to get
involved in research”
or “Honors freshman looking for
research opportunities”
Start Early (2)
 Phone or email MULTIPLE professors now to
maximize your chance of setting up an interview
 Set a day and time for the interview and show
up early with a resume’
 Email a reminder the day before the interview is
scheduled and ask for directions to the
professor’s office
 If you can’t make a scheduled interview, email
the professor to cancel
Start Early (3)
 Set up interviews as soon as possible so you don’t get left out and
are not late on your reports
 Be polite, but persistent; address all professors as “Dr” or
“Professor”
 Expand your thinking about the area you might be interested in
 Visit the professor’s lab; talk to students; LEARN
Rules for Reports
 Face-to-face interview with professor
 Report must be in your own words
 Report filename based on YOUR
NAME
LastnameFirstInitial_report#1.doc,
 i.e.,
SmithA_report#1.doc
 Only MS Word files in Windows format
(.doc or .docx)
 Spell and Grammar Check Everything
Rules for Reports (2)
 Upload report on COURSE
WEBSITE using “Upload Your
Report” button
 MUST be registered on the course
website to upload report
 Report should answer all questions
given in syllabus (next page)
 Use HEADINGS to separate
answers
SIX Questions to Answer for report on a Professor

NOTE THE USE OF HEADINGS !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Biographical information on the professor (where born, where educated, current title); How did the
professor become interested in science?

Number of Students: undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows currently in the
laboratory, with some detail on each,

Projects: a paragraph on each project that would be available for undergraduates with a description of
the research. What questions are the lab trying to answer?

Experimental techniques that are used in the laboratory,

Major Collaborators: Names and affiliations of major collaborators of the professor, with details

End of five page report

Bibliography: Five most recent publications from the professor’s laboratory, with full citation
including authors, title, year, journal (or book), volume, pages, i.e., 1163-1172. THIS IS THE
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE REPORT
Questions??