MCB 4920C: Group-Effort Applied Research (GEAR)
In GEAR, a research-active faculty member supervises a cohort of students on a project from the instructor’s laboratory. The students receive didactic instruction on core concepts in molecular biology, basic principles of common laboratory methods, and discipline-specific information related to the research project. Students also receive supervised training for relevant laboratory procedures. This knowledge is then applied in the laboratory as teams of students prepare, execute, and interpret experiments linked to an aspect of the instructor’s research program.
All GEAR projects emphasize basic techniques in molecular biology, but participating faculty members will have distinct research interests and areas of expertise. GEAR projects will accordingly vary from section to section and will depend upon the research interests of the GEAR instructor. In all cases, a major goal of the course is to provide students with a strong fundamental understanding of how a laboratory functions, both in terms of relevant experimental methods and the day-to-day operation of a research laboratory.