BIOL W3500 - Independent Research for
College and GS Students
For further information about these courses, contact:
Professor Bob Pollack
749 Mudd
854 2409
Office hours: by appointment
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/faculty-data/robert-pollack/faculty.html
Introduction to the course
BIOL W3500 -Independent study is an opportunity for full-time undergraduates in College, SEAS and GS interested in laboratory research to share in the work of an ongoing research program in our Department or in a comparable laboratory elsewhere in the region.
The grade for the work as a course, is determined by the sponsor in consultation with Professor Pollack. The grade is based on regular attendance in the laboratory, a demonstrable understanding of the underlying question being asked by the research, and a clear report on the work accomplished. This last, a paper, is required in time for the sponsor to have it when recommending a grade. Further details are below.
Relationship of this course to BIOL 3600
This course can be taken only during spring semester. Sudents who take 3500 in the fall should then take BIOL 3600 in the spring, when it will be taught by Professor Hazelrigg.
Try your hand at research
(click to find out
how undergraduates can get experience working in a research laboratory)
A. Finding a research sponsor
The first
step towards doing independent study research is finding a sponsor who will
supervise your work. You must take the initiative to find a
sponsor by contacting faculty who do research you are interested in. Any
faculty member doing laboratory-based research in biological and biomedical
sciences is an eligible sponsor. Most sponsors are at
B. How to
register (4 steps)
You must complete the following steps to register for
W3500. Note that you have to register with the Registrar, as for any other
class, AND you have to register with the Department, which requires completion
of ALL FOUR STUDENT'S TASKS, listed below, in a timely manner.
1 *
University registration
Register
for W3500 with the Registrar. Generally students
register for 3 or 4 credits. Registration for more than 4 pts per semester
requires permission of Dr.
Pollack. A general rule is 4 hours lab time/week/credit, i.e.
register for 3 credits for 12 hours of lab time/week and 4 credits from 16 or
more.
2
* Departmental registration
Fill out the on-line
registration form. Due Date: As early as possible
during the registration period, but definitely no later than one week from
start of classes. (Tuesday, Sept 15, for fall term 2009; Tuesday, Jan 26, for
spring term 2010) Late registration requires permission of Professor
Pollack
3 * 1
Page Proposal
After consulting with your sponsor about the project
that you will work on, you should write a one-page proposal in clear prose
describing the planned work, and submit this to 600 Fairchild by Friday of the
second week of classes (Sept.18 for Fall 2009; Jan 29 for Spring 2010). Do not
copy your sponsor’s grant application or research papers; we want your own
words. Within a week to 10 days after submitting your material in 600
Fairchild, you should receive an email either approving your project, or
requesting additional information. If you run into difficulties with deadlines,
please inform Professor
Pollack
4 *Approval Letter
Make sure your sponsor has sent an approval letter (see below) by the deadline for departmental registration (Tuesday, Sept 15, for fall term 2009; Tuesday, Jan 26, for spring term 2010).
C. Sponsor's Approval Letter
Ask your sponsor to write a letter by email,
confirming that s/he will supervise your work in their lab and describing in a
brief paragraph the work you will be doing. This letter should be sent to
D. Course Requirements Progress Report
About 6 weeks into the semester, you must turn in
a one-page progress report, describing your work thus far. Most students will
not have research results at this point, but the progress report must provide
an indication that your project is proceeding in the context of your own
understanding of the underlying issues and hypotheses being tested. This paper
may not be cut and pasted from a grant application nor
a published paper; it must be in your own words. This report should be
submitted to 600 Fairchild by the following deadlines: Fall semester: Thursday,
October 15; Spring semester: Thursday, March 4.
E. Final Paper
Near the end of the term, you are required to write a paper -- in the style
of a scientific research article -- at a level understandable to a scientist
who is working in a different area of biology. Do not copy or paraphrase your
mentor's grants or papers. Assistance with the writing of your first scientific
paper can be found on the page Writing
a scientific research article.
Students may in addition review Professor David Helfand’s
book “Habits,” from their Core science course Frontiers of Science
for guidance.
Bring your paper to 600 Fairchild by the last day of the reading period, i.e.,
before the first day of finals. Fall semester deadline: Dec 16; Spring
semester: May 6. Since you should plan to write a first draft of the paper,
submit it to your mentor for comments, and then revise the paper accordingly,
and since the final paper is due in 600 Fairchild by the last day of the
reading period, it is incumbent upon YOU to make sure that you submit the first
draft to your sponsor early enough for him/her to have a chance to read it and
for you to revise it. Please make sure your sponsor reviews the grading
guidelines below.
Students who register Pass/Fail are required to follow all the above steps,
except that a one-page summary of research will be accepted in lieu of the
research paper, for the grade of P, with the sponsor’s agreement. Failure to
submit that paper by the deadline will lead to the assignment of an F.
F.
Sponsor's Grade
Your sponsor submits a grade for the
semester, based on your laboratory work and your research paper. Professor
Pollack will assign your final grade, based on your progress report, a review
of your paper, and your sponsor's recommendation. Important: you must have
submitted all the information required ON TIME in order to receive a full
grade.
Grading Guidelines for mentors
After reading your paper, your sponsor should
submit a grade to Ms.
The grades for this course are not curved. Nor is a student expected to
win the lottery; that is, to have carried out experiments not only reliably and
well, but also with important success. To maintain a rough parity of
grade from lab to lab, we ask mentors to hold to the following guidelines:
The student who gains both experience and acceptance as an articulate and
productive member of a lab team, should receive a grade in the A range [A-, A,
or RARELY, A+]. An A+ student should not be expected on average to appear
more than once in a number of years in a given laboratory.
The student who has a routine, uneventful lab experience should receive a grade
in the B range [B-, B or B+].The student who is episodically unreliable or lazy
should receive a grade in the C range [C-, C, or C+]. A student tracking worse
than that, should be brought to the attention of Professor Pollack by the
mentor early enough to avoid a disaster [a D or an F].
Some further reflections on W3500 - What do we mean by independent research?
Columbia University
undergraduates have the opportunity to receive academic credit while conducting
biological research under the direct supervision of a faculty member in this
department, or of a grant- sponsored post-doctoral fellow or graduate student
carrying out basic research in a laboratory here at Columbia or elsewhere. Whether you work with a post-doc, a
professor, or a graduate student, the requirements of this course are the same:
that you ask to be accepted as a member of the team, capable of and expected to
do independent work, and that you are in turn accepted under those terms.
Laboratory research is not a job, and academic
credit is not a form of reimbursement for the carrying out of technical
tasks. Laboratory research gives you a
chance to learn laboratory skills used in real research labs, develop skills in
observing, recording and analyzing biological phenomena, and engage in the kind
of critical thinking required for biological research. It is your responsibility to assure that the
work you will do will have these components, and that you will not be asked to
do tasks without understanding them, nor to do tasks that
have little or no bearing on a specific research project. In particular, working with the paper
component of the project
- "library research" - may be necessary, but it is
never sufficient for 3500 credit.
You may find one or another of these requirements
burdensome. That's all right;
independent research is NOT a required part of the major, and NOT a requirement
for acceptance to medical school. It should be pursued by only those students
who have a genuine interest in basic research, a mentor willing to be a senior
colleague in discussions of data as well as techniques, and sufficient time to
devote to their research project.
You must be able to keep up with your other
coursework, so allocating your time is critical. Many students register for W3500
in their junior or senior year. Generally students register for 3 or 4 points
each semester, which corresponds to a minimum of 12 or 16 hours/week of lab
work, respectively. Most students work more hours in the lab, especially since,
as for other lab courses, much of your data analysis and preparation of the
final paper will occur outside of the 'classroom' in this case the 16-hr/week
spent in the lab.
* A bit of advice: Whether you take 3 or 4 points of W3500, you
will be joining a research team, which may include graduate students,
post-doctoral research scientists, and lab technicians, in addition to the head
of the lab. Many of these people put in all of their work time -- over 60 hours
of work a week -- on their research projects. They may initially expect you to
do the same. Because you are a student enrolled full-time in classes, you have
the responsibility of budgeting your time, and
assuring that your time commitment is within limits that you set. If
difficulties arise, consult Professor Pollack promptly.
* Lab safety: Research
laboratories contain equipment and chemicals that can be dangerous if used
improperly. If you are working with radiation or animals, you will be required
to complete specific training by the university. You should take seriously the
risks involved in laboratory research, and make yourself aware of proper
laboratory procedures. It's a good idea to read through one of the on-line
manuals of laboratory safety that may be found on the Laboratory
Safety page at the SURF site.
Academic Credit for W3500 for College and SEAS
students
Biology majors may earn up to 2 semesters
of lab credit or one semester of elective course credit toward the requirements
for the biology major, but not both. Students who carry out summer research
elsewhere (not SURF-Columbia) may not combine that with one semester of
W3500 to fulfill the laboratory requirement.
If 2 terms of W3500 or a combination of W3500 and summer research work
(in SURF) is used to fulfill the lab requirement, no additional terms of W3500
may be accepted towards the major. Although additional semesters of W3500 do
not count towards the biology major, additional credits will count towards the
124 points needed for graduation; see the Dean of your year for more
information.
Biochemistry majors should speak with Professor
Alex Tzagoloff about the maximum
number of credits in 3500 allowed.
Biophysics majors should speak with Professor
Julio Fernandez about the maximum
number of credits of 3500 allowed.
Biology Concentrators, Neuroscience & Behavior majors, Pre-med
Concentrators, and all other majors may register for W3500 for degree credit,
but that credit will not fulfill any of the requirements of their majors. Two
terms of W3500 will fulfill the premed lab requirement, but one term of W2501
will do so just as well.
You cannot receive academic credit for salaried lab work.
Academic Credit for W3500 for GS students
The regulations regarding credit are the same as it is
for CC students. If there are any questions (for any biology related major or
special program in GS) see Dr.
Pollack. Again, note that one
cannot receive academic credit for salaried lab work, nor for unpaid work that
was done before you registered for W3500.