About

Summer 2024 participants  (photo credit; By Melanie Leonard-Body 2024)

Plant Genomics @ MSU REU Program

The Plant Genomics @ MSU REU program was founded in 2006 and to date, has provided high quality research experiences for more than 250 undergraduates. Our aim is to broaden participation in STEM and to provide opportunities to students who may not have easy access to the same research opportunities as those who attend large research intensive universities. Each year, we build a diverse cohort of participants at different stages of their academic careers and with varied levels of research experience who attend both two and four year institutions. Participants conduct an independent research project under the guidance of a faculty mentor and participate in professional development activities designed to improve their understanding of science and careers in STEM. We place an emphasis on improving scientific communication skills and strategic career management.

Approximately 70 percent of our alumni attend graduate school to study advanced degrees in STEM and around a third pursue graduate research in the plant sciences. The remainder of our program alumni typically pursue careers in STEM, either in academia or industry, or attend professional schools.

 

More about our program

Our prestigious program will give you a sense of what graduate school research is like. Each student has their own project with mentoring from a principal investigator, as well as from research associates, post-docs, and/or graduate students. This 10-week research internship provides a wide range of trainings including the following:

• Laboratory Research (~ 85% of your time, the other 15% are for all the trainings and workshops listed below and more)
• Relationship Violence & Sexual Misconduct (RVSM)
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)
• Wellness, Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS)
• Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR)
• Data Management
• Survive and Thrive your REU Experience (meet with former REU participants)
• Graduate School (meet with grad school directors)
• Laboratory Safety Training
• Worker Protection Standard (WPS) Training
• Computational Training (Python and/or R) with Office Hours
• Lunch Seminar (discover academia careers and paths)
• Individual Development Plan (IDP)
• Career Workshop (discover careers outside of academia, such as biotechnology startup, science communication, government, patent law, botanical gardens, conservation)
• Workshops (abstract, poster, oral presentation)
• Campus and facility tours
• MID-SURE Research Symposium (poster presentation)
• Plant Genomics Research Symposium (oral presentation)
• Social Events (such as game night with grad students to network informally, or exploration of Michigan with the rest of the cohort using our handbook with tons of visit ideas to discover the area)

 

True to its land-grant roots that revolutionized higher education, MSU is committed to training the next generation of plant science leaders. MSU has more than 200 plant scientists, making it the perfect place to spend the Summer doing plant research!

 

The Plant Genomics @ MSU REU program is supported by National Science Foundation award DBI-2149531 to Michigan State University.

 

Did you find a bug or an error? Please let us know.