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MARC-U*STAR Required Courses and
Activities
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MARC-U*STAR Students are complete
coursework and participate in activities that are designed to enhance their educational experience and improve
their chance of gaining admission into premiere doctoral programs.
MARC trainees are from a number of fields but all are required to gain an
understanding of basic biological concepts and how their field intersects
with the biological or behavioral sciences. The major program activities are included below:
Required Activities:
Coursework:
All MARC Trainees must
take:
-
Biology I or Biosciences for non-Majors
- Two semesters of
Honors Research credit (similar to Independent study) in their major (6 credits Total): BIO 4993, CHEM 4993, EGR 4993 (for BME unless BME 4993 is developed), PSY, MATH, PHYS, STATS, or CS
-
BIO 4953: “Research Careers and Professional Skills Development (1 semester
of a 3 credit course; counts are upper division Bio elective.)
-
University Sponsored
Responsible Conduct in Research, Laboratory Safety, and Compliance
activities.
In addition, all trainees should complete:
We believe that these
additional courses will enhance MARC U*STAR student preparation for
doctoral programs in the biological, chemical, or biologically-oriented
computational sciences, without creating an overwhelming burden on
students who are already carrying a heavy course load. Most, if not all,
of these courses, will be counted towards the individual student’s degree
program.
Thesis:
All MARC students are required to
complete a MARC-U*STAR thesis. Briefly, this will involve the
creation of a manuscript that describes the student's research project.
The format will be identical to that of an Honors Thesis and can also be used for College of Science Honors (for other Colleges, check their requirements). The
thesis is extensively described
here.
Receipt of the final stipend check is conditional on submission of the
thesis.
Seminar:
All MARC students will attend the MBRS/MARC Seminar and
Lunch with the speaker. The seminar meets from 12 - 1 Friday, and is followed by a one-hour
lunch. The Seminar Schedule is found linked to the main MARC page.
Research:
All students are expected to work at least 16 hours
during the school year, and full time (40 hours) in the summer. Limited summer
classes are allowed subject to permission by the program director and your
research mentor. In summer, if you will be taking two courses, please take one non-lab class during the day and one in the evening/weekends...or both in the evenings. Do NOT take horribly difficult courses in the summer. At least once, prior to graduation, the students
must attend an off-campus Summer Research Program, preferably one that
is at a graduate school that the student may wish to attend. See
http://www.utsa.edu/mbrs/internships.htm
Leadership:
Because they are expected to develop into leaders in their fields, all MARC students will participate in The Leadership Challenge, lead by Dr. Barea-Rodriguez.
Conference Attendance:
All MARC Trainees will attend at least two conferences prior to graduation. The first will be either SACNAS or ABRCMS, two-student oriented conferences where they will have the opportunity to learn additional professional development topics, be introduced to a variety of fields of interest for graduate study, and network with graduate schools/summer program managers. The second will be a professional conference with their research mentor. In addition, MARC trainees will participate in a variety of on campus opportunities to present, such as the COS Research Conference.
Other:
There are a number of other activities in which MARC students
participate, including but not limited to graduate school application, Mock Interviews, GRE Preparation,
taking the GRE, StrengthsQuest assessment, and various evaluation
activities.
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