Did you know that your body is comprised of over 100 trillion individual cells? What keeps them all in place? How do they move? How do they communicate with one another?

At the "edge of the cutting edge" of biological research a handful of highly innovative scientists boldly cross departmental boundaries and apply new technology to address these questions every day on Vanderbilt's campus.

Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems Research and Education (VIIBRE) invite Vanderbilt undergraduates to apply for a prestigious opportunity to conduct an independent research project in a dynamic, multi-disciplinary research setting. Applications are requested from Vanderbilt undergraduates in all degree programs, and successful applicants will be selected based on scholastic performance and/or previous research or other relevant experience. Students who have just completed their freshman year are encouraged to apply! Students whose primary interests are in the humanities or social sciences are invited to apply and indicate why they are interested in participating in a scientific research project.

Within the SyBBURE program, VIIBRE is actively investigating four areas of cellular biology: Bioreactors, Cell Forces, Chemotaxis, and Immune Cell Activation.

The body's ability to recognize and neutralize foreign invaders is essential for individual and public health. The immensely elaborate immune system has fascinated great thinkers for centuries, and provides a highly repeatable biological platform for single-cell studies and reverse engineering of what is undoubtedly the most complex machine in existence, the mammalian cell. Our challenge is to control these cells!

Successful applicants will join a current group of undergraduate and faculty researchers to engage in research projects full time during the summer. Successful students will be encouraged to continue their projects for 5-10 hours per week during the academic year. Summer participants will receive a $4,000 research stipend. During the academic year, students will receive a $2,000/semester stipend, and can, if they choose, receive 1 credit hour for independent research. SyBBURE will provide training in microfabrication, instrumentation, AutoCAD, LabVIEW, ImageJ, MATLAB, and other research tools. Students will be expected to work independently and collaboratively to design and perform hypothesis testing experiments, attend workshops, prepare scientific documents, and present study results. Participation in a weekly journal club is required. Excellent students may have opportunities to travel to scientific conferences.