The Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) is a year-long program that begins in the summer term. Applications to the program are reviewed in late March, and participating students are placed with a faculty mentor in early April. Students already working with a faculty mentor may also apply to PURE; they will simply continue with their current project.
A week after the end of the spring term, students will begin PURE by attending two orientation sessions and completing both online and in-person training in lab safety. The rest of the summer term will be focused on research. In the fall and spring semesters PURE participants will continue their research projects and will also enroll in a PURE seminar course. This class will meet once a week for oral presentations of student research and for paper presentations from the primary literature. The focus will be on clear communication of scientific concepts and data.
Additional class meetings will involve faculty / guest lectures on topics including:
(i) how to give an effective oral presentation
(ii) career opportunities
(iii) what to expect from medical/graduate school and interviews for medical/graduate school admissions
(iv) how to produce an effective poster for scientific meetings.
In the spring semester, students will design and present a poster of their work for the UCF Student Scholar Symposium. Each semester, students will receive 1 unit of credit in MCB 4912 PURE: Directed Independent Research. Completion of the 3 semester PURE program will be accepted as a restricted elective by the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. However, note that only one “Research-related restricted elective” (i.e., PURE, PILOT, or Honors-in-the Major) will be allowed to substitute for a regular restricted elective credit.