Research experience is a core feature of the overarching UBC MBIM undergraduate program, which includes specializations for majors and honours students in microbiology and immunology (MBIM), biotechnology (BIOT), as well as combined majors in computer science (MBIM/CPSC) and oceanography (MBIM/EOAS).
As part of these degree programs students have access to course-based undergraduate research experiences (acronym CURE) in their 4th and 5th year of study.
The UBC MBIM CUREs provide students (working in teams of 3 or 4) with an opportunity to purse novel research questions that have broad meaning beyond the walls of the classroom. In our program, students publish their findings from their CURE projects in our course-based undergraduate research journal titled UJEMI. UJEMI publications provide starting points for studies in subsequent terms of the course, thereby creating a student-driven feedforward mechanism for advancing science.
In the 22W academic session our department will offer CUREs that provide “wet lab” research experience (MICB 471) and “dry lab” research experience (MICB 475). “Wet lab” experience involves practical experimentation at the lab bench in a microbiology and immunology laboratory. “Dry lab” experience involves computer aided analysis of biological data (often termed “big data”) using servers to provide computational power.
Students in MICB 471 and MICB 475 will publish their findings in UJEMI and will be encouraged to present their work at MBIM URS in April 2023.
Unlike a traditional protocol driven lab course where students attend lab in defined blocks of time (e.g. Wednesday from 1pm – 4pm), students in a CURE come and go from the lab throughout the week (e.g. Mon to Fri 8am to 5pm) to advance their team’s research project. CURE students should still register for a lab time slot as part of registration to ensure that some time is set aside in their timetable for lab work. Once term begins, teams will be assembled and a weekly 1 hour team meeting will be scheduled.
MICB 475 will only be offered in term 2 of 2022 but will be offered in both terms in 2023, 23W1 and 23W2.
- MBIM Majors students are required to take both MICB 471 and MICB 475.
- MBIM Honours students are required to take MICB 471, MICB 475 and MICB 449.
- BIOT Honours students must do at least one of MICB 449, MICB 471, or MICB 475.
