[bioundgrd] Reminder: Biology Advanced Undergraduate Seminars AY 2020-2021

[Sanghyun Im]

Dear Biology Undergrads,

Five biology advanced seminars will be offered fall 2020-2021. Pdf posters and information for the seminars are attached.
https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/

7.341  The Microbiome and Drug Delivery: Cross-species Communication in Health and Disease
Instructor: Miguel Jimenez (jmiguelj at mit.edu<mailto:jmiguelj at mit.edu>, 949-285-0318, laboratory of Robert Langer)

7.342  The Seeds and the Soil: Roles of Tumor Heterogeneity and the Tumor Microenvironment in Cancer Metastasis
Instructors: Yun Zhang (y.zhang at wi.mit.edu<mailto:y.zhang at wi.mit.edu>, 919-600-8633, laboratory of Bob Weinberg), Arthur Lambert (alambert at wi.mit.edu<mailto:alambert at wi.mit.edu>, 603-978-2866, laboratory of Bob Weinberg)

7.343  Microbial Megaproducers: Discovery, Biosynthesis, Engineering and Applications of Natural Products
Instructors: Kenton Hetrick (khetrick at mit.edu<mailto:khetrick at mit.edu>, 617-571-4580, laboratory of Ron Raines), Emily Ulrich (eulrich at mit.edu<mailto:eulrich at mit.edu>, 608-215-6892, laboratory of Cathy Drennan)

7.344  How Parasites Hijack Their Hosts: Mechanisms of Host-Pathogen Interactions
Instructors: Elizabeth Boydston (liz at wi.mit.edu<mailto:liz at wi.mit.edu>, 617-324-5869, laboratory of Sebastian Lourido), Jon McGinn (mcginn at mit.edu<mailto:mcginn at mit.edu>, 617-258-6455, laboratory of Rebecca Lamason)

7.346  Chemical Biology: Using Chemicals and Chemistry to Probe Biological Mechanisms and Identify Therapeutic Targets
Instructor: Boyuan Wang (boyuanw at mit.edu<mailto:boyuanw at mit.edu>, 917-855-1293, laboratory of Michael Laub)


Please see below for information from Prof. Bob Horvitz on Biology Advanced Undergraduate Seminars for 2020-2021.

https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/

****
TO: MIT Biology Majors and Faculty
FROM: H. Robert Horvitz, Professor of Biology


I am writing to inform you of an exciting offering from the Department of Biology for
the 2020-2021 academic year: a set of 11 very current seminar courses, 7.34x,
Advanced Undergraduate Seminars. A complete listing of the courses, instructors, and
brief course descriptions is attached below. The topics are highly varied and encompass
areas of genetics, genomics, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, virology,
cell biology, cancer biology, parasitology, plant biology, chemical biology, evolutionary
biology, genome engineering, natural products, biopolymers, drug discovery and
delivery, and human disease.

Students can take any number of these courses. The courses, which generally
involve four to eight students, are for 6 units, graded pass/fail, and meet two hours each
week. The focus is on reading and discussing the primary research literature. Most
courses have one short written assignment and one oral presentation. Some include
field trips (possibly remote this year) to MIT research laboratories or to companies using
technologies discussed in the courses. The level of each course will be tailored to the
students who enroll. Because of the small size of these courses, we expect students not
to drop these courses once they have begun.

The scheduling of these courses is flexible. The day of the week and 2-hour
period of the day each course will meet will be determined jointly by the prospective
students and the instructors at the beginning of the semester.

These courses offer a number of special features: small class size, a high degree
of personal contact with the instructor(s), a focus on the primary research literature, and
an opportunity to discuss current problems in biology interactively. I believe these
courses greatly enrich an undergraduate’s experience. There are limited alternative
opportunities available to undergraduates to interact closely with instructors who are
experienced full-time researchers; to learn to read, understand, analyze and critique
primary research papers; and to engage in the type of stimulating discussions and
debates that characterize how science is really done. Most advanced MIT
undergraduates (generally juniors and seniors) have been sufficiently exposed to the
basics of biology to be able to read the primary literature and appreciate both
methodologies and cutting-edge advances. These courses have two goals: first, to
expose students to the kind of thinking that is central to contemporary biological
research; and second, to impart specific knowledge in particular areas of
biology. These courses are designed to be intellectually stimulating and also to provide
excellent preparation for a variety of future careers that require an understanding both of
what modern biology is and of how it is done. Students who have taken Advanced
Undergraduate Seminars in the past (different specific courses, same general design)
have been enormously enthusiastic about their experiences.

I am writing before Registration Day to encourage students to consider enrolling
in one of these seminar courses. Please feel free to contact any of the instructors to
learn more about their courses and in particular to discuss possible meeting days and
times if those listed are not possible for you.

To learn more about the Advanced Undergraduate Seminars to be offered
during the Fall 2020 semester, please check our website
https://biology.mit.edu/undergraduate/current-students/subject-offerings/advanced-undergraduate-seminars/

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/bioundgrd/attachments/20200831/58e8cb5d/attachment-0001.html
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: BioAdvUGseminars_2020-202_07302020.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 183035 bytes
Desc: BioAdvUGseminars_2020-202_07302020.pdf
Url : http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/bioundgrd/attachments/20200831/58e8cb5d/attachment-0002.pdf
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Posters_Fall 2020 BioAdvUGSeminars.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 2901829 bytes
Desc: Posters_Fall 2020 BioAdvUGSeminars.pdf
Url : http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/bioundgrd/attachments/20200831/58e8cb5d/attachment-0003.pdf