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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Dear Undergrads and Faculty, </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Please see below for information from Prof. Bob Horvitz on Biology Advanced Undergraduate Seminars for Spring 2025.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Descriptions and posters for each course can be found on the following page. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/" title="https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/">https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/</a></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Please note that scheduling for these courses is flexible and will be determined jointly by the prospective students and the instructors at the beginning of the semester. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">**Please note, students who have taken the seminars before can share their experience with any MIT students they think might be interested.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">****</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">TO: MIT Biology Majors</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">FROM: H. Robert Horvitz, Professor of Biology</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">DATE: January 2, 2025</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">I am writing to inform you of an exciting offering from the Department of Biology for</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">the 2025 spring semesters: a set of 4 very current seminar courses, 7.34x,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Advanced Undergraduate Seminars. A complete listing of the courses, instructors, and</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">brief course descriptions is enclosed. The topics are highly varied and encompass</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">areas of genetics, genomics, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">bacteriology, biophysics, microbiology, immunology, developmental biology,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">evolutionary biology, cancer biology, stem cells, infectious diseases, other human</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">diseases, antibiotic resistance, chemotherapy, vaccines, bioengineering and</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">biotechnology, and the search for extraterrestrial life.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">A student can take any number of these courses. The courses, which generally</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">involve four to eight students, are for 6 units, graded pass/fail, and meet two hours each</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">week. The focus is on reading and discussing the primary research literature. Most</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">courses have one short written assignment and one oral presentation. Some include</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">field trips (possibly remote this year) to MIT research laboratories or to companies using</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">technologies discussed in the courses. The level of each course will be tailored to the</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">students who enroll. Because of the small size of these courses, we expect students not</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">to drop these courses once they have begun.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The scheduling of these courses is flexible. The day of the week and 2-hour</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">period of the day each course will meet will be determined jointly by the prospective</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">students and the instructors at the beginning of the semester.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">These courses offer a number of special features: small class size, a high degree</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">of personal contact with the instructor(s), a focus on the primary research literature, and</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">an opportunity to discuss current problems in biology interactively. I believe these</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">courses greatly enrich an undergraduate’s experience. There are limited alternative</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">opportunities available to undergraduates to interact closely with instructors who are</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">experienced full-time researchers; to learn to read, understand, analyze and critique</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">primary research papers; and to engage in the type of stimulating discussions and</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">debates that characterize how science is really done. Most advanced MIT</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">undergraduates (generally juniors and seniors) have been sufficiently exposed to the</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">basics of biology to be able to read the primary literature and appreciate both</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">methodologies and cutting-edge advances. These courses have two goals: first, to</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">expose students to the kind of thinking that is central to contemporary biological</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">research; and second, to impart specific knowledge in particular areas of</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">biology. These courses are designed to be intellectually stimulating and also to provide</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">excellent preparation for a variety of future careers that require an understanding both</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">of what modern biology is and of how it is done. Students who have taken Advanced</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Undergraduate Seminars in the past (different specific courses, same general design)</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">have been enormously enthusiastic about their experiences.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">I am writing to you before Registration Day to encourage you to consider enrolling</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">in one of these seminar courses. Please feel free to contact any of the instructors to</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">learn more about their courses and in particular to discuss possible meeting days and</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">times if those listed are not possible for you.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">To learn more about the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars to be offered</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">during the Spring 2025 semester, please check our website</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">(<a href="https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/">https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/</a>)
and/or contact the instructors.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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