Research Internship Concentration Requirements

Direct Entry Admission:

Minimum 80% grade in Biology 30 and a minimum of 75% admission average

Delayed Entry Admission:

Applicants must present one of BIOL 1010 or BIOL 1020 with a minimum GPA of 3.00 (calculated on all completed university courses)

*Fulfillment of one of the above admission routes does NOT guarantee admission due to a limited number of seats. Students may be ranked according to GPA and may be asked for a Letter of Intent, references and/or an interview.

Required Courses:

BIOL 2001 – Research Internship l: Scientific Discovery (3.0 Credit Hours)

First Year, Spring Semester (3-3-0)

Teams of students choose 3 areas from a range of possible research options covering the breadth of biology (molecular and cellular biology, physiology, development, ecology, evolution). For each of the three areas, after reviewing published work, they suggest a hypothesis, design an experiment to test it and conduct the experiment. Students learn skills such as public speaking, written presentation, as well as developing characteristics such as creativity, team-work, flexibility and critical thinking

BIOL 2002 – Research Internship ll: Scientific Data & Analysis (3.0 Credit Hours)

Second Year, Spring Semester (1-variable hours)

Students, either individually or as a small team, work with faculty to design a full semester set of experiments to answer a biological question based on their interests. Students are integrated into faculty research programs, and make new discoveries using state of the art approaches and technologies. The class meets each week with the whole research group to share their research progress, discuss data collection and analysis strategies, as well as to build skills in public presentation and collaborative work.

BIOL 3001 – Research Internship lll: Communicating Science (3.0 Credit Hours)

Third Year, Spring Semester

Students work individually with faculty to develop and carry out a research project. Students learn technical skills, as well as developing problem-solving strategies and communication skills.

And 1 of:

BIOL 4995 – Undergraduate Thesis (6.0 Credit Hours) or

2 independent studies courses (either BIOL 3990 and/or 4990) (6.0 Credit Hours)

*For students who complete all requirements, the Research Internship Concentration will be acknowledged on the official transcript

Research Internship Concentration Requirements - U of L Course Calendar