REU site: Summer Research at the University at Albany's RNA Institute

This REU Site award to State University of New York at Albany’s RNA Institute, located in Albany, NY, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2023-2025. An anticipated total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities or from a group under-represented in STEM, will be trained in the program.

Students will participate in hands-on research focused on scientific discovery in, and around, ribonucleic acid (RNA) science and RNA-based technologies. This work benefits society by generating innovation and building infrastructure capacity for future research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences.

Assessment of the program will be done through the online SALG URSSA tool. The NSF ETAP system will be used to register participants (https://www.nsfetap.org/). Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths.

The REU in RNA focuses on students participating in scientific discovery in ribonucleic acid (RNA) science and RNA-based technologies. The program encompasses faculty from multiple departments including Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Biomedical Sciences, and Physics. Students will gain hands-on research experience, one-on-one mentoring, and cohort-based guidance on STEM educational and career opportunities.

Applications to the program include, a transcript, letters of recommendation, and short personal essay. Students can browse summaries of potential research projects and mentors on the REU in RNA website and will rank and select up to three mentors and a general research area of interest (chemistry, biology, physics, or engineering). Potential projects include using RNA folding to predict RNA structures, transcriptional regulation by ribosomes, applied DNA nanotechnology, developmental biology & regenerative medicine, and toxic RNA disease & therapeutics.

Program PIs and senior faculty will select candidates based on faculty input, academic potential, proposed mentor, and previous experience. Prior research experience is not a prerequisite for participation nor will it dominate the selection criteria. More information about the program is available by visiting http://www.albany.edu/rna/reu-in-rna, or by contacting the PI (Dr. Berglund at [email protected]) or the co-PI (Dr. Kent at [email protected]).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.