REU Site: Plant Genome Research

This REU Site award to the Boyce Thompson Institute, located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2024-2026. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities and/or from underrepresented groups, will be trained. REU program participants will develop interdisciplinary skills that are necessary for taking full advantage of the ever-increasing size and complexity of biological data sets. This essential research expertise will serve as a strong foundation for their future careers in academia, industry, or government service. Participants will communicate their results not only to other scientists but also to a broader audience through community engagement and online videos. Assessment of the program will be done through an online tool. REU participants will work with well-trained mentors to design and implement experiments that take full advantage of available plant genome resources, as well as cutting-edge molecular and biochemical research methods. Student research projects will involve important agricultural crops, ecologically relevant plant species, and/or laboratory model organisms. Proposed research subjects include fruit ripening, pathogen defense, herbivory, metabolism, symbiotic fungal interactions, non-coding RNA, photosynthesis, drought tolerance, micronutrient utilization, graft compatibility, and plant development. Individual student projects will be designed to provide some independence but still fit within the overall research framework of the host laboratories. By combining hands-on laboratory or field experiments with bioinformatic analysis of large data sets, students will learn to investigate novel aspects of plant biology. Additional training will focus on the effective presentation of research results, preparation for graduate school, and ethical conduct of research. A social mentoring program will promote student interactions, facilitate integration into the research environment, and help students build a support network early in their career pathways. Applications can be submitted via the NSF ETAP system. 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.