Belmont’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships in the Sciences (SURFS) offer the opportunity for selected students at all levels to work on a focused, summer research project.
Those selected are assigned to one of their top choices of the various faculty-led projects, providing firsthand experience in being part of a research team as in the industry or graduate school.
Offered through Belmont's College of Science and Mathematics, students learn through interactions with other researchers and faculty mentors, gain experience with state-of-the-art instrumentation and attend weekly lectures on best research practices.
Unique, Specialized projects
Rising sophomore biology major Daisy Torres (pictured left) worked this summer with Dr. Rebecca Adams on mRNA export in yeast cells and studying the relationship between different proteins in that process.
While other students used biochemical experiments, Daisy specifically used molecular cloning.
A Summer Well Spent
Daisy said SURFS is an amazing opportunity to get her foot in the door in the grand expanse of the research field.
"I love biology, and I also want to become competitive in my applications for graduate programs," she said. "I've learned a lot of what it really means to work in a lab and conduct original research that answers the world's questions."
"The most interesting thing I've learned is about the research process - I didn't realize how extensive it actually was! Dr. Adams says, 'you often take two steps forward and one step back.' And I've definitely gone through that these past couple of weeks," said Daisy.
"I've learned to just keep going, keep pursuing and keep having the confidence that something will come out of this."
Daisy feels thankful to have been given the chance to work on this project and hopes to continue researching with Dr. Adams, knowing the experience will help her in achieving her goal of attending medical school one day.
"I've learned to just keep going, keep pursuing and keep having the confidence that something will come out of this."
Scientific Collaboration
Having worked on a psychology project last summer, rising junior biology major Sarah Utley wanted to return to SURFS for a second time to get more of the "wet lab" experience.
This year, her group worked in conjunction with Daisy's project looking at mRNA export - focused on purifying the proteins involved in that process.
"We are trying to do something that has never been done at Belmont before, which is biochemically purify proteins," said Sarah. "And when you do this - when you biochemically purify those proteins - you can further study them and test the effects of manipulating them in various ways."
A Deep Dive
Sarah said SURFS grants the opportunity to get more hands on with the concepts she hears about in class.
"Just being able to really dive deeper into science is what I've loved most. We learn a nice surface level of these concepts in class, but this allows us to more thoroughly investigate what we are learning through our own research," she explained.
Real Life Application
Rising junior engineering and physics major Dean Boecher worked with Dr. Davon Ferrara's group on films that will enhance a window's optical properties. I.e. keeping heat out during the summer and heat in during the winter.
"During our labs throughout the semester, we get a general knowledge of using basic instruments, but in SURFS we really use more specific instruments that we might actually be using in fields we go on to work in," Dean explained.
"I've been learning to use a spectrometer, a furnace, the spin coder and other things that are under the fume hood that you don't get to use in a general lab."
Every Field Represented
Rising senior neuroscience major Prathyusha Srinivasan, or Pratt for short, worked with Dr. Carole Scherling's group using a special brain imaging tool to study emotion and how that brain function relates to dominant handedness.
Pratt explained the group's hypothesis follows the same trend as prior literature on the relationship between dominant handedness and language.
"We think if someone is right handed, his or her emotions may be lateralized on his or her left side of the brain for valance, which is the positive or negative aspects of emotion, as well as the tendency for approach or withdrawal," she explained.
"This is a very important part of my journey in figuring out where I want to end up."
A Head Start
For a neuroscience project in particular, starting the projects over the summer allows the students time to review prior literature, prepare their own research and then run a pilot, which is important in getting started.
"If we can successfully figure out our tool and run the pilot now, we can carry that into the fall and continue building on the research throughout the semester," explained Pratt. "SURFS has allowed me the time to go back to the basics and make sure I thoroughly understand everything so that we can carry it further this fall."
What's Next?
Pratt began college strictly focused on completing a pre-med tract, but she wants to continue exploring her options now that she is further into her studies.
"This is my time to figure out where I want to take my career going forward. SURFS is the best opportunity to get started exploring that by building on the foundation we get in class," she said.
"This summer is really helping me explore whether or not I want to go to clinicals, go the Ph.D. route or even do clinical research. This is a very important part of my journey in figuring out where I want to end up."
Building Campus Connections
SURFS also allows opportunities to build stronger connections with faculty, getting to know them in a more 1:1 setting.
Pratt said, "Every Friday, our department does Fun Fridays where we come together to play games and have fun, which has been a great experience to bond with my peers and faculty. It's a great break before going into the weekend and then coming back rejuvenated on Monday."
Highly Recommended
Sarah said she would definitely recommend the SURFS experience to other students.
"It allows you to get your feet wet with research, and the unique thing about SURFS is that it is available for underclassmen and provides an experience you can't get elsewhere that early," she explained.
"This experience really helps students build the foundation of research to hopefully go on and apply to other research opportunities."