Through our undergraduate laboratory courses and research and work opportunities, students gain the hands-on knowledge and skills needed to contribute to the evolving science landscape. In addition, our experiential learning courses integrate authentic research experience into undergraduate science education:
- Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs): Teams of students define a research problem, design an experimental protocol, prepare laboratory supplies and equipment, carry out experiments, and analyze the results.
- “Wet lab” CUREs involve practical experimentation at the bench in a microbiology and immunology laboratory.
- “Dry lab” CUREs involve computer-powered analysis of biological data (e.g. using genetic sequencing data to identify microbe species and characterize microbiome diversity).
- As part of their CURE, students prepare an original research manuscript that describes the experimental purpose, methods, results, and discussion. After review and revision, it is published in the department's Undergraduate Journal of Experimental Microbiology and Immunology (UJEMI).
- Students may also prepare a poster or give an oral presentation on their findings at the Microbiology and Immunology Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS).