Research Initiative for Scientific EnhancementThe RISE Intensive-Undergraduate program targets students for participation in their junior/senior years. The goal is to prepare Cal Poly students in several facets necessary in order to become competitive for acceptance into PhD programs in the biomedical sciences.
This is to ensure that rising juniors and seniors begin to master laboratory techniques and perform research in biomedical-related laboratories. The research Intensive phase continues the students' training in a specific field of study dictated by the area of research of their chosen Faculty Research Mentor (FRM). The program places Cal Poly Pomona students in research laboratories primarily at Cal Poly Pomona. Participation also entails the formal training of students with regard to poster and oral presentations of scientific results, grant writing, comprehension of scientific literature and performance on the GRE (Graduate Record Examination).
Students accepted in the program are awarded a stipend as follows:
Below you will find a detailed table of dates and activities that comprise the RISE Intensive-Undergraduate program.
| Two weeks in June | ||||
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Two meetings with Coordinator by each participant; participants read about different biomedical research techniques in preparation for the summer research activities; participants select a FRM for their research project. |
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| Two weeks in July (Weeks One – Two) |
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| Time | Mon. | Tues. | Weds. | Thurs. |
| 9 am – 12 pm | Laboratory experiments for students to achieve a basic level of proficiency in performing and using basic biomedical research techniques, such as DNA, RNA and protein isolation and characterization, tissue culture procedures, transfection using various vectors, Western and Northern blotting, gradient separation techniques and animal handling. |
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| 12 – 1 pm | Lunch and 1X/week brown-bag lunch meeting with CPP research active professor |
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| 1 – 4 pm |
Laboratory experiments for students to achieve a basic level of proficiency in performing and using basic biomedical research techniques, such as DNA, RNA and protein isolation and characterization, tissue culture procedures, transfection using various vectors, Western and Northern blotting, gradient separation techniques and animal handling. |
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| Eight weeks July and August (Weeks Three – Ten) |
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| Time | Mon. | Tues. | Weds. | Thurs. | Week Ten |
| 8 am – 5 pm (lunch from 12 to 1 pm) | Participants work in a research intensive laboratory; initially work with experienced research student under the close supervision of the FRM to learn about additional techniques that they will use for their independent research project; read the literature relevant to their research topic, which will be related to other work in the research laboratory; attend and participate in weekly research laboratory meetings |
Participant Oral Presentations | |||
| Friday | |||||
| 9 am – 10 pm | Safety Workshops (Weeks 1-4)
Scientific Ethics / Scientific Integrity Workshops (Weeks 5-9) |
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| 10 am -3 pm | GRE Preparation Workshops (Weeks 1-5) The goal of these workshops will be to improve students’ scores on the GRE practice Math and Verbal subtests, thereby increasing the students’ competitiveness for admission to Ph.D. programs. Ph.D. Application Process Workshops (Weeks 6-9)
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| 3 – 4 pm | Lunch |
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| 4 – 5 pm | Oral Presentation Workshops (Weeks 1-5) Positive and negative examples of short and long talks will be used to demonstrate the principles to be followed for a lucid, well organized presentation. The students will be taught the basic guidelines for preparing and organizing their own presentations, with an emphasis on how to use and prepare effective Powerpoint slides, techniques for positively interacting with the audience, learning how to speak clearly, and to be an active listener. Draft presentations will be presented to the group which will then provide suggestions on how to improve the talks. The workshops will culminate with 10 minute student presentations, with the other participants asking appropriate questions. Visits from Graduate Program Coordinators from Other Campuses (weeks 6-9) |
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| 5 – 6 pm | Journal Club Meetings (Weeks 1, 4, 7) Students will receive guidance to help them learn how to read journal articles and critique them; they will complete assigned readings prior to each journal club meeting, and will submit questions before the presentation of a given article; they will be required to ask questions during presentations Minority Speaker Research Seminar (Weeks 2,5,8) Students will complete assigned readings on the speaker’s research prior to the seminar; they will talk with the seminar speaker informally after the research seminar Grant-Writing Workshop (Weeks 3,6,9) Students will receive guidance in how to write a grant by learning how grant-writing differs from other types of written documents, how to follow the grant guidelines for major funding agencies (e.g., NIH, NSF), how to read grant proposals, interpret reviewer’s comments, review other people’s grants, and participate in a grant scoring exercise. |
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| Two weeks in September (prior to Fall Quarter) | ||||
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| Time | Mon. | Tues. | Weds. | Thurs. |
| Variable(depending on participant’s schedule) | Intensive-Undergraduate and Intensive-Graduate: 16 hours per week on independent research project which includes the 2hr workshops on Tuesday evenings and 2hrs of Friday late afternoons Participants work in a research intensive laboratory under the supervision of the FRM with guidance from other student researchers and/or technicians in the laboratory to learn relevant techniques that they will use for their independent research project; read the literature relevant to their research topic; attend and participate in weekly research laboratory meetings |
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| Tuesday Evenings : 6:00-8:00pm, RISE Intensive Workshops (Bio 499)1 | ||||
Poster Presentation Workshops Manuscript Writing Workshops GRE Preparation Workshops |
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| Friday Afternoons: 4:00 – 6:00 pm, RISE Intensive Workshops (Bio 499) (Fall, Winter, Spring Quarters) | ||||
Journal Club Meetings Minority Speaker Research Seminar Grant-Writing Workshops |
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