Intro to Biologial Research Course Schedule

revised 24 Aug 2009, PKS - please check for errors.

Some reading links are below. Click here for book list.

Date Class Topic Class Activity Read for Today Assignments Due Today
25 Aug

Course intro including
Syllabus, assignments, grades.
Critiquing a presentation
Powerpoint fundamentals.
Mechanics of a literature search (online demo - bring laptops)

Name that colleague    
1 Sep

Review papers
Purposes, audiences.
How to write YOUR review paper for this course.

Review dept seminar, Discuss readings. Childers 2004
Kuyper 1991
Sand-Jensen 2007

List of 10 best journals with URLs & URLs for e-mail TOCs (electronic only Phil & Lidia)

8 Sep

Approaching & Learning Science
Inquiry vs. hypothesis testing.
Teaching science.

Reconsidering how to teach science Alberts 2009

Topic for your review (electronic only Phil & Lidia)

15 Sep

Scientific advance
Big & small questions
Narrowing to the tractable

Scientific Advances.
Asking BIG & small Questions

Russell & Morrison ch 1,2
Gordon ch 3,8
Platt 1964
Quinn & Dunham 1983

Nester 1996

1. Scientific Advances assignment
2. Formatted bibliography with 50+ refs on your topic
(electronic only Phil & Lidia)

22 Sep

Logic of statistical inference
Proof, support, & refutation.
Hypothesis vs. theory.
What statistics mean.

Present big Q and proposal ideas in groups. Work to improve articulation & approaches.

Review paper formatting instructions.
Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: writing and editing for biomedical publication

1. Big Questions assignment

2, Grant Questions assignment (from last week)

3. Topic for research proposal
(bring 6 paper copies for group, plus 6 of your big Q from last week)

29 Sep

Scientific Presentations
How to organize an oral presentation.

Mapping out an oral presentation.
TBA - (selection of published papers to present?)

discussion of grant paragraphs

6 Oct

Graphics in science
Data exploration graphics vs.
presentation graphics

  Kroodsma & Byers 2000 find and bring in examples of great and terrible scientific graphics
(3 of each)
13 Oct

How to succeed in grad school

Mo's PPT.file (2.8MB)

Thompson 2002
Stearns 1987
Huey 1987

Preparing a CV
20 Oct Proposals
Types, RFPs, selling an idea & structure of a pitch.
Writing the proposal for this course.

Design "Evalutation of learning event"


Literature review
(3 paper copies
Lidia, Phil, your advisor)

27 Oct

Grant proposals
organization & formats, budgets, red tape (IACUC, IRB, clearance)

Discuss & improve proposal pitches.

Russell & Morrison ch 3-6
Sample NSF Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (1.5MB PDF)

NSF evaluation criteria

Two-page double-spaced proposal "pitch", includes big & narrow questions and specific aims.

Download and start using these:
proposal instructions
proposal template
budget form

3 Nov

Experimental design, controls, intrusion

 

Pseudoreplication Challenge

Gordon ch 5,6
Hurlbert 1984

 
10 Nov   Evalutation-of-learning event

 

 
17 Nov

Ethical issues for grad students: IACUC, IBR, honesty, authorship, fraud, romance, etc.

 

Kevles DJ, "The assault on David Baltimore," The New Yorker, May 27, 1996, p. 94

Gunsalus CK 1998. How to blow the whistle and still have a career afterwards. Science and Engineering Ethics 4:51-64

 
         
24 Nov How grant review panels work
Panel instructions
Panel summary form
 
1 Dec Hand in grant proposals &
get proposals to review
    Grant proposal
(5 paper copies)
8 Dec

Review Panels

 

 

Proposal reviews