Mechanisms of Behavior NSF-REU Summer Research Internship Program - Past Years
The past few years in the Mechanisms of Behavior (MOB) program have been very exciting and a great success! We have received hundreds of applications for the program from students throughout the nation. Through NSF's generous funding -- and with additional funding from Duke University -- we have been to support twenty-six program participants (two more than initially proposed!). The students were matched with mentors representing a wide range of departments, including: Neurobiology, Psychological & Brain Science, Biological Anthropology & Anatomy, Biomedical Engineering, Pharmacology & Cancer Biology, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Science. All but one of the projects has involved the use of an animal model, so our participants have been able to develop a strong core of knowledge in behavioral neuroscience. Specifica skills learned by various participants include: animal husbandry, surgerical techniques, behavioral observation and data collection, and histological techniques.
Each year we have kicked off the program with a two-day orientation session, highlighted by tours of a number of behavioral and cognitive neuroscience laboratories at Duke, as well as the world-renowned Duke Primate Center. We also had the faculty mentors for the program give short talks to the participants, introducing themselves and describing their general research interests and the factors that led them to a career in science. The participants then spent 10 weeks immersed in a laboratory, collaborating with faculty, post-docs, and graduate students on cutting-edge research. The program culminated in a day-long research symposium in which the participants presented their work to faculty, graduate students, post-docs, and their fellow student colleagues. The presentations have been very polished and professional, and have been well-attended by members of the behavioral neuroscience community here at Duke.
The summer isn't completely comprised of nose-to-the-grindstone work in labs, however. We also manage to take in a few social and cultural events. At the beginning of each summer, participants attended a picnic held annually for all students conducting research at Duke during the summer by The Duke Office of Undergraduate Research Support. We also took in a performances at the American Dance Festival, and Durham Bulls baseball games, complete with fireworks following the games!
Summary of Past Years: Participants and Projects
The following pages describe the participants from past years, as well as their program projects and general activities. If you are considering application to this program, viewing the titles of the previous years' participants should give you an idea of the range of projects available.
The directors of the UNP and the MOB program would like to thank all of the mentors and program participants for the tremendous effort they put into the program.