How scientists study biology

Description du cours

During this one-week course, students will complete a blend of classroom and hands-on research experiences in the field of biology. The focus will be on giving students the experience of conducting a biology research experiment from beginning to end. The course will be run by a researcher in the Bruin lab at Carleton University, which studies diabetes. Students will conduct biomedical research experiments in the Bruin lab. Students will be given a biomedical research question relating to diabetes, DNA damage and/or cell biology. Using this research question, students will work collaboratively in small groups to conduct in-lab hands-on experiments. Students will complete three different laboratory techniques to address this research question. Students will have the opportunity to conduct microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The in-lab aspect to this course will start on Day 2 when students will be brought into the Bruin research lab to learn the necessary skills to conduct experiments. On days 3 and 4 students will spend the majority of their day in the research lab conducting aspects of the multiple different techniques listed above. To supplement the laboratory work, students will have workshops to discuss the necessary background information to understand their hands-on experiments and the experiment outcomes. The week will end with an informal discussion on the highlights and struggles of conducting biology research.

Additionally, researchers from multiple different fields in biology will be brought in as guest speakers to discuss their research throughout the week. This will allow students to talk to a variety of different scientists and learn about the many fields of biology research. Students will also be given small tours of multiple research locations such as the Carleton University greenhouses, ecology research labs and insect biology research labs. Students will be able to see many different research rooms and interact with researchers across many disciplines.