Life-Sciences Freshman Research Scholars Program
The Life Sciences Freshman Research (LSFRS) Program is part of an effort to involve students in authentic research duri
ng their introductory science experiences. It is supported in part by a grant to Oklahoma State University from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Science Education Program. Students accepted into this program will participate in a one-credit, eight-week course during the second half of the first semester of their freshman year, during which a “research guide” will help them identify a faculty mentor, select a research project (usually a part of a larger one), and write a research proposal. During the second semester, the students will conduct their research under the mentor’s guidance and report their results. Students fulfilling the program requirements will receive a $1000 scholarship.
Freshman Researchers have conducted a wide variety of innovative research projects and even published in scientific journals!
- A Microbiology major tested 3 types of vaccines against Coxiella burnetii, which causes dysentery, most commonly in children in refugee camps.
- A Physiology major studied the mechanism by which diabetes and high cholesterol interfere with arteriogenesis, the body’s natural defense to a coronary artery blockage.
- A Botany major studied the genetic architecture and evolution of crop domestication traits in millet, a major food crop.
- A Zoology major studied the causes of equine Cushing’s disease and its similar etiology to Parkinson’s disease in humans.
- A Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major studied the antimicrobial resistance mechanisms of "golden staph" (Staphylococcus aureus), a major bacterial pathogen of hospital patients.
Applications for the 2015-2016 academic year are now open! If this sort of work excites you, submit our electronic application, by July 20th, 2015 for full consideration. If you have questions about the program, please contact the OSU-HHMI Team at osu-hhmi@okstate.edu.