Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Involving undergraduates in genomics research to narrow the education–research gap

Nature Biotechnology volume 36, pages 369–371 (2018)Cite this article

Engaging undergraduates in computational tasks can improve genomic research laboratory productivity, benefiting both students and senior laboratory members.

The benefits of undergraduate involvement in scientific research have been well documented. Faculty supervision of undergraduate research projects provides for college students an invaluable, engaging, and challenging experience, unique to the research setting1. Undergraduates who engaged in research had higher grade point averages and higher rates of acceptance to graduate programs2. Students who completed an undergraduate research experience (URE) report an increased interest in pursuing STEM careers, understanding of how scientists work on problems, and ability to critically apply skills and interpret data3. The benefits of UREs are especially apparent for women and students of underrepresented minority (URM) groups. Underrepresented undergraduates who gain experience in STEM research are more likely to graduate from science and engineering majors, develop a more cohesive identity as scientists, and improve communication and critical thinking skills4.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

References

  1. McGee, R. & Keller, J.L. CBE Life Sci. Educ. 6, 316–331 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Bauer, K.W. & Bennett, J.S. J. High. Educ. (Columb. Ohio) 74, 210–230 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Hathaway, R.S. et al. J. Coll. Student Dev. 43, 614–663 (2002).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Hernandez, P.R. et al. J. Educ. Psychol. 105, 89 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Spell, R.M., et al. CBE Life Sci. Educ. 13, 102–110 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Thomas, C. Chronicle of Higher Education: the Conversation http://www.chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2015/03/09/dont-divide-teaching-and-research/ (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Druckman, J.N. PS Polit. Sci. Polit. 48, 35–38 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Kerfeld, C.A. & Simons, R.W. PLoS Biol. 5, e141 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Mangul, S. & Martin, L. GitHub https://smangul1.github.io/undergraduates-in-genomics/ (2017).

  10. Mangul, S. et al. Trends Biotechnol. 35, 901–903 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Bruins-In-Genomics (B.I.G.) Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for supporting undergraduate students, and the Division of Undergraduate Education at UCLA for offering courses that allow undergraduates to work on independent research projects. Lastly, the authors dedicate this body of work to all undergraduate students who participated in bioinformatics research in ZarLab (http://zarlab.cs.ucla.edu).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lana S. Martin and Eleazar Eskin are in the Department of Computer Science, Serghei Mangul, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.,

    Serghei Mangul, Lana S Martin & Eleazar Eskin

  2. Serghei Mangul is also at the Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.,

    Serghei Mangul

  3. Eleazar Eskin is also in the Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.,

    Eleazar Eskin

Authors
  1. Serghei Mangul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lana S Martin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Eleazar Eskin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Serghei Mangul.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mangul, S., Martin, L. & Eskin, E. Involving undergraduates in genomics research to narrow the education–research gap. Nat Biotechnol 36, 369–371 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4113

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4113

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing