BIOL 690: Introduction to Graduate
Website: Blackboard
Instructor: Geraldine Grant PhD Office: 207 Discovery Hall, Manassas
Lab: Discovery Hall Rm 223 and 303W
Contact: Email: Office Hours: By Appointment only.
Students must use their MasonLive email account to receive important University information, including messages related to this class. See http://masonlive.gmu.edu for more information.
Schedule Prince William Campus, Bull Run Hall, Rm., Mondays 4:30-7:10pm January 27th – February 24th
General University Catalog: http://catalog.gmu.edu/
University Policies: http://universitypolicy.gmu.edu/
Grading: This class is graded on completion of the following:
Assignments 1-9 in portfolio formats – 80% of final grade
In class presentation of thesis/project proposal – 20% of final grade
Syllabus – Work sheet.
Rational: The aim of this class is to introduce the student to graduate level education research and studies at George Mason University and graduate life in the School of Systems Biology.
SCHEDULE: This class will meet January 27th through February 24th. In classes 2-5 students will present a 10 min power point talk detailing your proposed topic and plan of research/project. Presentation dates for each student are in the class schedule below.
Safety training MAY be offered in class and therefore the class schedule may change to accommodate the safety officers availability…be aware.
ASSIGNMENTS: To achieve credit you will need to complete a PORTFOLIO containing a number of ASSIGNMENTS describe below and on the class Blackboard website. You will submit this portfolio by 5pm on Friday April 25th 2014, either electronically or in person.
After 5pm on April 25th – portfolios will be marked “late” and a 5% reduction in grade will be incurred for each 24 hours the portfolio is “late” (This includes weekends).
NO EXCEPTIONS.
Academic Integrity
THE HONOR CODE IS STRICTLY ENFORCED IN THIS CLASS.
The integrity of the University community is affected by the individual choices made by each of us. GMU has an Honor Code with clear guidelines regarding academic integrity. Three fundamental and rather simple principles to follow at all times are that: (1) all work submitted be your own; (2) when using the work or ideas of others, including fellow students, give full credit through accurate citations; and (3) if you are uncertain about the ground rules on a particular assignment, ask for clarification. No grade is important enough to justify academic misconduct. Plagiarism means using the exact words, opinions, or factual information from another person without giving the person credit. Writers give credit through accepted documentation styles, such as parenthetical citation, footnotes, or endnotes. Paraphrased material must also be cited, using MLA or APA format. A simple listing of books or articles is not sufficient. Plagiarism is the equivalent of intellectual robbery and cannot be tolerated in the academic setting. If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism, please see me.
Disability Accommodations
If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at 993-2474, http://ods.gmu.edu. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the ODS
Assignments: For BIOL690
Read and complete each of the following assignments and compile a portfolio for submission by the 25th of April 2014.
For further detail refer to the online assignments in Blackboard.
Assignment 1: Honor Code Pledge
Rational: Many students are confused or unaware as to the exact definition of plagiarism. Lack of knowledge is and will be no defense - learn now, the easy way, not later the hard way when it may cost you your place in college or your job.
1. Find, READ and UNDERSTAND the GMU honor Code which is available at http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/plagiarism.htm.
2. Copy this document and paste it into a word document, then add the following question and "Honor code pledge" statement. Sign and date this document and place it in your portfolio.
Answer the following question: Plagiarism is______
Honor code pledge
To promote a stronger sense of mutual responsibility, respect, trust, and fairness among all members of the George Mason University community and with the desire for greater academic and personal achievement, we, the student members of the university community, have set forth this honor code: Student members of the George Mason University community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal, or lie in matters related to academic work.
On my honor, I will abide by the honor code as set forth by George Mason University.
Signed ______Date ______
Assignment 2: Office of Laboratory Safety and Project Review
Rational: To work in ANY lab at George Mason University you MUST complete all the mandatory training required for your discipline and area. Additionally EVERY project is required to have a Project Review Form complete and approved by OLS.
1. For this assignment you must: Compete all the required safety training for your area (check with OLS and your Adviser) (http://ehs.gmu.edu/training_all.html). Select your required courses from the following courses offered.
a. Animal & Vivarium Safety
b. Autoclave Equipment
c. Biological Safety for BSL-2 Laboratories
d. Bloodborne Pathogens
e. Environmental Field Safety
f. Laboratory Safety Orientation
g. Laser Safety
h. Radiation Safety
i. Working Safely with F. tularensis
j. Working Safely with HIV
k. X-ray Safety
2. Everyone must complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training available http://research.gmu.edu/ORIA/docs/IRB%20Training20060817.pdf. Follow the instructions within the document.
IF you have already completed your required safety training on your own, and due to the fact that the safety office no longer awards certificates, you may request OLS to email you confirmation of EACH of these training courses you completed. Print out this confirmation and place it in your portfolio.
3. Project Review Forms: Next you will download and complete a SET of Project Review forms specifically for your project. For each project that is carried out at the University it is required that a project review form is file with a approved by, OLS. This is to ensure the safety of all staff and students.
If your adviser has already completed these forms, obtain a copy, and ensure YOUR NAME is now added to the list of scientists.
IF there is no Project Review Form for your project, then these forms are located at Project Review Forms. Download them and complete EACH form that pertains to your project. If no project review from is required for your project – you must justify why.
Assignment 3: Meet the Faculty
Rational: This assignment is to expand your knowledge of the department - of which you are now a member. It is to allow students that have not yet identified an adviser the opportunity to meet with and identify potential advisers. For those students that have already signed on with a faculty member this assignment is designed to introduce you to the rest of the faculty. It is very easy to become pigeonholed within your own lab – this assignment will expand your horizons.
1. Each student is required to contact/meet with 3 MMB faculty members by the end of the semester.
2. With each faculty member you will:
a. Discuss their research
b. Complete a paragraph in your own words detailing your understanding of this research.
c. Submit this paragraph to the faculty member for approval. This must be signed off on by the faculty members.
d. You will print this and submit this in your class portfolio.
Assignment 4: Dissertation and Thesis organization
Rational: As you get to the point in your studies where you are preparing to write up your thesis there are a number of University wide requirements which you MUST abide by.This includes a format review of your thesis by the Thesis and Dissertation Coordinator. To prepare you for this and to ensure that you are FULLY aware of ALL the University Thesis format requirement long before you will need them.
You must find the Thesis and dissertation website and answer the following questions:
1. Who is the Thesis and dissertation Coordinator?
2. What is the “Process”?
3. What will be YOUR Process?
4. What are the requirements for formatting YOUR thesis?
5. From the website down load the following:
i. The signature page – Fill in this page with YOUR details
ii. The title page - Fill in this page with YOUR details
iii. The abstract page Fill in this page with YOUR details
iv. Print out i-iii and put these in your portfolio.
6. Now write our YOUR Specific AIM and each of your detailed aims. Print this out and put it in your portfolio
Assignment 5: Proposal writing - NIH OER
Rational: The objective of this assignment is to introduce you to Grant applications – the process and the requirements. The NIH funds a large percentage of laboratory science in the US, and chances are you are working with funds derived from and NIH grant.This assignment will enlighten you as to the kinds of NIH grants there are, how you go about writing a grant – what the NIH is looking for etc., and what goes into a budget.
You are required to:
1. Find the NIH’s Office of Extramural Research (OER) web site –
2. Go to the Grant Application Basics. Once you have read this section answer the following questions IN YOUR OWN WORDS
a. What does NIH look for in a Grant
b. What is the difference between a Parent announcements, program announcements (PAs), and requests for applications (RFAs)?
3. Go to Types of Grant Programs and answer the following
a. What is an R01?
b. What makes and RO1 different from and R21?
4. Then follow the link to the Grants Process Overview. This site will give you information and tips for writing a proposal, in your case this will be a Thesis proposal. Print out the process diagram. Then in the writing section answer the following
a. What are the five NIH Peer Review Criteria?
b. What is the hypothesis that you, in your research, are trying to prove?
c. What are YOUR specific aims for your thesis work?
d. Print out the important writing tips, these will be very useful for you, and place them in your portfolio.
5. Return to the Overview process page and follow the link to Developing your Budget and answer the following questions in your own words
a. What is the difference between a direct cost and an indirect cost?
b. What is the difference between a Modular and a Detailed Budget?
c. What are fringe benefits?
Assignment 6: Tour of the Library.
Rational: This assignment is to introduce you to the University Library system, the Lift Sciences Liaison Librarian and the many aspects and facets to the library which are available to you doing your graduate studies.
1. You will: Meet with and take a tour of the Library and its services with Mrs Martin at the PW campus Mercer Library.
2. Upon completion of this tour, Mrs Martin will sign the certificate attached below (you will personalize and print it out yourself prior to the meeting) this certificate indicates completion of the visit - place in your portfolio.
Mrs Martin may choose to attend one class and deliver a class instruction on the library – if this is the case then you will not need to make a private visit to the library
Assignment 7: Reference Search.
Rational: To put your newly honed skills which you learning in your library tour into action. During your graduate work you will be required to find references – some will be easy – some you will have to do an interlibrary loan or dig very deep on the GMU website. This assignment is to prepare you to find every paper that you will need.
1. In the attached document (Reference for ALL 2014) you will find that each of you have been assigned 5 publication references.
2. You will locate each of your 5 paper and download the entire paper.
3. You will then print out the first 2 pages ONLY - NOT just the abstract, the first 2 pages of the WHOLE paper.
4. Place the first two pages that you have printed out in your portfolio
Assignment 8: Zotero/Citation Manager
Rational: To introduce you to citation management. When it comes time to write your thesis or any paper, you will have a mountain of references that you will need to cite. These software packages compile all of your references (directly from the web – so you don’t’ have to worry about spelling etc) in one place and will insert them, in the correct order, the correct style into you document. These packages will also generate a bibliography at the end of you document.
1. Download a citation manager of your choice. The university supports Zotero http://www.zotero.org/ which is a free plug in for Firefox – the University no longer supports or supplies Endnote.
2. There are more detailed directions on word processor integration at http://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_integration .
3. The library also has a website which as some frequently asked questions (FAQs) at http://infoguides.gm u.edu/content.php?pid=23687&sid=170421
4. You will also need to install the plug in for word http://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_installation and watch the tutorial available at http://www.zotero.org/support/screencast_tutorials/zotero_and_word
5. Install it on your computer and integrate it into word.
6. Once you have your citation manager working you will build a library of with the 30 references in the attached paper – call it “BIOL690 paper”
7. Once you have built your library you will then use the citation manager to insert these citations into the attached manuscript using the format you were assigned.
Assignment 9: Program of Study and Committee Formation
Rational: In order to graduate, you will need to submit a program of study to Ms. Diane St. Germain. This program of study will indicate the classes you intend to take and the dates you intend to take them. This assignment also ensures that you have a clear understanding and schedule of the requirements of your program. This form maps out your MS program, class by class, semester by semester and must be reviewed and signed by your Adviser.