Activities

While the major focus of the program will be an independent research project, we will include a number of group activities aimed at cohort building and professional development. Students will be provided with rooms in a single wing of a dormitory at Miami University, which we have found facilitates informal interchanges and builds social and collaborative interactions. Initial whole-group events will focus on getting to know one another and building a sense of community and inclusion. We will host an opening week cookout for the REU students and their mentors, which will include outdoor games and getting-to–know-one-another activities. All students will also participate in at least one teambuilding activity, which may include a low-ropes course, a field trip to wild caves, and/or a rock-climbing field trip. Students come to the program with a variety of backgrounds and talents, and these activities will be used to increase the social network and cohesiveness of the group early in the program. Additional activities will be organized throughout the summer, including a trip to a baseball game or Kings Island.

Each summer the Department will sponsor a mix of seminars from industrial scientists, academic scientists and scientists from government laboratories. Speakers will discuss their research at a level appropriate for undergraduates and will include remarks about the nature of research at their places of employment. In addition, we will have site visits to Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Company (Indianapolis, IN; 90 miles) and Proctor and Gamble (Cincinnati, OH; 30 miles) to expose students to industrial chemistry at work. To expose students to other careers that take advantage of their scientific training, such as science policy, we will have workshops in collaboration with Ben Corb, Public Affairs Director at the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). To encourage students to begin thinking about their future, be it graduate school, professional school, or the work force, we will use the Career Services offered at Miami University to provide students with tailored information on how to write a résumé for industrial science careers, obtain details about specific graduate programs, factors to consider when applying to schools, preparing for the GRE’s, the graduate school application process, as well as practicing interviewing skills and honing students’ ability to speak to the lay audience about their scientific research.