The John Innes Centre receives strategic funding from BBSRC
The John Innes Centre receives strategic funding from BBSRC
Undergraduate Research Training Programme 201021st October 2010 JIC and The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL) have launched a new Undergraduate Summer Research Training Programme (USRTP),which ran in July and August 2010. The programme was intended to promote science as a rewarding career by providing a students with a rare chance to experience scientific research outside of the university environment. The sixteen participants came from thirteen different universities across UK and the EU and their undergraduate courses were in a wide range of disciplines including biological sciences, chemistry and pharmacy, maths and physics. Each student pursued an 8-week research project with a supervisor in either JIC or TSL. All students attended a weekly seminar series on research techniques that was organised and delivered by PhD students from JIC/TSL. The summer students also shared in the social and sporting life of JIC/SL through linkage with the “Student Voice Committee” and the John Innes Society. Weekend social trips were arranged to Cromer, Cambridge and London and the programme ended with a two-day residential retreat at a hotel in North Norfolk. For many students, the USRTP was their first encounter with research in plant or microbial sciences. It was also their first encounter with a research institute, as opposed to a university science faculty. The programme, which was supported by vacation bursary grants from the Nuffield Foundation, BBSRC, and the Gatsby Foundation, was acclaimed a great success by all participants, many of whom returned to their undergraduate courses with increased enthusiasm to pursue research as a long-term career. The course will run again in July/August 2011. Professor Enrico Coen and Dr Cyril Zipfel managed the scientific content of the programme on behalf of JIC and TSL, respectively. "Based on the feedback from the students who participated in 2010 it was a resounding success," said Prof Coen. "We intend to keep running it for the foreseeable future." James Borrell of the University of Exeter said "My 8 week placement, has been fantastic. I have had the opportunity to learn about a world leading area of research, and work in a world class laboratory. It has proved to be an invaluable insight into a career in science, and the experience will be very beneficial when I return to my final year at university and hope to secure a PhD in the future." Efthymia Prifiti from Greece said "Participating in the programme was a very valuable experience for me. Being an active member of the group gave me the opportunity to know what being a scientist really is and I now feel a lot more confident and comfortable in the lab." Tristan Bunn, BBSRC's Inspiring Young Science Coordinator, says the training, accommodation and social programme forged a great collegiate atmosphere. "The students final presentations were very impressive with many demonstrating levels of understanding similar to students in the second or third year of PhDs," he said, adding that the programme also provided valuable experience for JIC and TSL post-doc mentors who themselves learned how to train and manage a research assistant.
Further information can be found on JIC’s website. http://www.jic.ac.uk/summerprogramme/
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