HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE AWARDS BRYN MAWR
$1.2 MILLION FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS

HHMI Program Director Peter Brodfuehrer

An extensive initiative to integrate the latest computational methods into the teaching of all the natural sciences is among many programs that will invigorate science instruction at Bryn Mawr College and beyond, thanks to a four-year, $1.2 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The grant will allow the College to create new internship opportunities in science for undergraduates, train a postdoctoral fellow in teaching and research, support faculty development in new computational methods, renovate laboratory facilities and the biology curriculum, and expand the highly successful Summer Institutes for local precollege teachers as a central component of a collaborative outreach initiative in science education with Haverford College.

The grant is one of 42 such awards, totaling $49.7 million, that HHMI made to colleges and universities around the nation in May to support undergraduate education in science.

The general goals of the projects funded by the grant to Bryn Mawr are to recruit and retain science majors, to expose science students to broadly applicable computational methods and increase their understanding of the connections within and among traditional disciplines, and to encourage undergraduates to pursue a wide range of careers requiring sophistication in science. The programs will build on Bryn Mawr's extraordinary record of success in preparing women for graduate education and careers in science. Among the programs to be sponsored by the grant:

Professional Development and Research Opportunities for Undergraduates

The HHMI grant will support eight new summer internships for science undergraduates: four off-campus research positions in the biomedical sciences, two in precollege science education and two in postsecondary science education. All participants in summer science internships at Bryn Mawr will benefit from an enhanced series of professional-development activities.The grant will also support a new Science in Society Undergraduate Fellowship program. The fellowships will encourage interest in science through the development of novel interdisciplinary majors that may pair natural sciences with disciplines in the social sciences or humanities.

Development and Training of Current and Future Faculty

A postdoctoral fellowship program in computational methods will provide mentored teaching and research experiences for a recent Ph.D. recipient and help Bryn Mawr faculty to implement new computational initiatives in the Bryn Mawr science curriculum. The grant will also support a new faculty-development fund that will encourage current members of Bryn Mawr's science faculty to add to their expertise in computational methods through conferences, workshops and courses, as well as invitations to visiting experts.

Director of the Center for Science in Society Paul Grobstein

Curricular Innovation

The HHMI grant will support two important curricular initiatives at Bryn Mawr. A new minor in computational methods in the sciences will involve the development of five new courses: Bioinformatics , Ecological Modeling , Emergent Systems , Visualization: Art and Science and Geographic Information Systems and Science . A revision of the undergraduate biology curriculum is designed to reflect the connections among subdisciplines of biology and levels of biological organization. Three new yearlong courses will give biology majors the time and flexibility needed to integrate concepts and underlying principles across sub-disciplines and to allow lecture, discussion and laboratory components to be more effectively united. These initiatives will include renovation of facilities and equipment.

Community Outreach

Bryn Mawr's Center for Science in Society and Haverford's Integrated Natural Sciences Center will use grant funds to coordinate outreach programs on both campuses through a Web site and regular meetings. The grant will support and expand Bryn Mawr's Summer Institutes, a 14-year-old program that introduces new ideas and approaches to local teachers. The College will continue to offer two two-week institutes annually, but participation will no longer be limited to Philadelphia public school teachers; teachers from all around the region will be invited to participate. The College will also introduce two new outreach programs. "Scientists on Demand" will offer a Web site and a directory of science faculty and students who will assist science teachers in their classrooms throughout the academic year. "Fridays in the Lab" will bring high-school science classes to the Bryn Mawr campus on four Fridays during the academic year for interactive laboratory demonstrations and short experiments.

Professor of Biology Peter Brodfuehrer will serve as HHMI Program Director and will oversee all program activities. Paul Grobstein, Professor of Biology, Director of the Center for Science in Society, and past HHMI Program Director, will continue to organize the Summer Institutes.

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