Topic Selection (Experimental and Grant Proposal theses)
The first week of class you will turn in the molecular biology contract (available on our Sakai site and emailed to you). Indicate the type of senior thesis you will enroll in (Experimental or Grant Proposal) and list the general topic you plan to study.
Note: In previous years, a short 1-page summary that described your project, area of interest, and main exerimental question was requested. We will not ask for that document this year.
Fall Senior Seminar Schedule
(Thursdays 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.)
Week 1 Discussion: Orientation (Sept. 1)
Discuss class requirements, deadlines, and other important business.
•Thesis Contract (Monday, Sept. 12)
Due date: 11:59 p.m., Friday, September 2, 2022 (electronic copy, placed in Dropbox on Sakai)
Complete the Senior Exercise Contract form (available in Sakai Resources). Indicate the type of senior thesis you will enroll in (Experimental or Grant Proposal). Please contact Prof. Olson if you are still looking for a thesis advisor. [NOTE: the 1-page abstract will not be required this year.]
Week 2 Discussion: What Is a Literature Review? (Sept. 8)
Students should complete Module 1 before this discussion.
Week 3 Discussion: Research Note-Taking Strategies (Sept. 15)
Students should complete Module 2 before this discussion.
•Submit Annotated Bibliography I (Sept. 15)
Present 5 annotated references (primary or secondary scientific papers) that provide background on the overall topic that you are tackling.
Due date: 11:59 p.m., Friday, Sept. 15, 2022 (electronic copy, placed in Dropbox on Sakai)
Week 4 Discussion: What's the Plan? (Sept. 22)
Students should complete Module 3 before this discussion.
Week 5 Discussion: Career Planning (Sept. 29)
No pre-work is required for this discussion.
Week 6 Discussion: Work Session with STEM Librarian (Oct. 6)
STEM Librarian Katie Kohn will be present via Zoom to discuss topics relevant to research, literature searching, Zotero, and other topics of interest to students. Attendance at this work session is optional.
•Submit Annotated Bibliography II (Oct. 6)
Present 8-10 additional annotated references (primary or secondary scientific papers) that are relevant to your literature review.
Due Date: 11:59 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022 (electronic copy, placed in Dropbox on Sakai)
Week 7 Discussion: Sharing Progress on Our Outlines (Oct. 13)
Students will informally present their progress on their project by sharing their Literature Review outlines with each other in small groups.
•Submit an Outline for Your Literature Review (Oct. 13)
Due Date: 11:59 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022 (electronic copy, placed in Dropbox on Sakai)
Mid-Semester Evaluation (Friday, Oct. 14)
(Experimental and Grant Proposal theses)
By October 14 you must meet with your thesis advisor to receive feedback on your thesis progress (see Evaluation Form in syllabus). If the student is not meeting the requirements for the Molecular Biology thesis, they will have until the end of the semester to remedy the concerns outlined in the evaluation.
Experimental: If you decide to withdraw from MOBI194A (by the October 20 Drop deadline) you will receive no credit (NC) for the Fall semester. You must sign up for a Senior Library Thesis-Grant Proposal in Molecular Biology, MOBI191B, in the Spring semester (0.5 credit).
Week 8 Discussion: Intro to Adobe Illustrator and Advanced Figure-making (Oct. 20)
This session will be held in Cowart ITS Computer Lab.
A brief introduction to Adobe Illustrator and BioRender as tools for creating effective figures for Intro Presentations and Literature Reviews.
Weeks 9 & 10: Introductory Presentations (Oct. 25, 27, Nov. 1, 3)
Students will give a brief (6–8 minutes, suggested no more than 6 PowerPoint slides) introduction to their project. This is an opportunity to share with the MolBio faculty and your peers the project that you are undertaking for the year. This presentation should focus on your literature review and background research, rather than on experimental work that has been done or is planned. The goal is to present the context for the experiments that will be proposed or reported on in the 2nd presentation at the start of the Spring semester.
***Students should coordinate with thesis advisors when signing up for the presentation time to ensure advisors are able to attend the talk.***
All students are expected to attend the presentations and provide anonymous feedback to the speaker via a survey that will be administered after each presentation.
Due Date: Students must submit the final version of the presentation file to their Sakai Dropbox by 8 a.m. the day of their presentation.
Week 11 Discussion: Peer Review (Nov. 10)
Discussion of the Peer Review process in the context of scientific research as well as in the context of the thesis exercise. Students should complete Module 7 before this discussion.
•Submit a Draft of Your Literature Review for Peer Review (Nov. 10)
Due Date: 11:59 p.m., Thursday, November 10, 2022 (electronic copy, placed in Dropbox on Sakai).
Thesis authors submit a complete draft of their Literature Review, which will then be read by two of their classmates, as well as their thesis advisors, who will provide feedback. While this draft will not be formally assessed, it is respectful and appropriate to submit a draft of your Literature Review that is in a fairly complete state—that is, it is worth your classmate's and advisor's time and energy to read it and give you feedback.
Spring 2023 Senior Seminar Schedule (Tentative)
Oral Presentation II (Fridays, February 3, 10, and 17)
(Experimental and Grant Proposal theses)
This talk will build on the background information presented in the first talk. This presentation will summarize the most important background information, justify your choice of research question, outline your research plan, introduce the experimental approaches you will use (experimental) or propose to use (grant proposal), and include any results (experimental thesis) or aims and predictions (grant proposal thesis) you have developed to date. Presentations will be 8 to 10 minutes, plus 5 minutes for questions. Students are expected to attend all talks, to provide feedback, and to ask questions.
Research Progress Report II (Friday, February 24)
Due Date: 11:59 p.m., Friday, February 24 (electronic copy, placed in Dropbox on Sakai).
Experimental: Add Materials and Methods section to the Research Progress Report I and revise Introduction, Figures and Figure legends with comments received.
Grant Proposal: Define Specific Aims and, in outline format, propose experiments to address Specific Aims. In outline format, identify experiments and appropriate controls you will propose to address the Specific Aims. Clearly outline possible results and how these will refute or confirm your hypothesis.
Grant Proposals Update (Friday, March 3)
Due Date: 5:00 p.m., Friday, March 3 (electronic copy, placed in Dropbox on Sakai).
Grant Proposal only: Define in detail the experimental approach you will take to address your specific aims. You must include an explicit description of the materials and methods used in each of the experiments you propose. This need not be as detailed as the Materials and Methods section of most published papers. Rather, you should clearly describe what you will be doing, the theoretical basis for major experimental procedures, and what specifically is required to undertake each procedure. Additionally, you need to clearly describe how you will obtain or make whatever specialized reagents, probes, antibodies, etc., that are required for the procedures you propose.
Full Thesis Draft Submission: Experimental and Grant Proposals (Friday, March 24)
Due Date: 5:00 p.m., Friday, March 24 (electronic copy, placed in Dropbox on Sakai).
Written guidelines can be found in the Senior Exercise syllabus. Note that this first version must be a finished piece of work, not a "rough draft." A graded copy with the comments and suggestions by your advisers will be returned to you no later than ten days after submission (April 3). You are strongly encouraged to incorporate the suggestions you have received to date from your advisers into the final version. The grade received on the first version will be taken into consideration when determining your final grade.
Solicit Feedback on Thesis Draft (Monday, April 3, Faculty Advisers )
Due Date for faculty advisors: Monday, April 3.
Each of the thesis readers will provide extensive comments and suggestions on your draft. You are responsible for requesting and obtaining the feedback from them.
Final Thesis Presentation (an extra presentation date may be added) (Thur, April 20 and Fri, April 21)
Due Date: Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21. Time and location TBD.
Final oral presentation of your Thesis work in the Senior Molecular Biology Symposium.
Final Thesis Submission (Monday, May 1)
Due Date: 12:00 p.m., Monday, May 1 (electronic copy to Sakai Dropbox, hard copies to Prof. Negritto).
- 3 hard copies of the final, revised version of your Research Report or Grant Proposal. Binding is optional but strongly encouraged; the Molecular Biology program will cover the cost of binding (not printing) if done at Pomona Duplicating services. Please use any remaining print quota to print your thesis.
- Electronic version of your final Oral Presentation and Research Report (Senior Thesis) or Grant Proposal uploaded onto your drop box on the Sakai Molecular Biology Senior Thesis master site.
- Fill out an exit survey; having on hand a current Curriculum vitae will help you be able to answer questions more quickly. A sample exit survey is provided in the Sakai MOBI194A,B site. The exit survey will be taken online through Qualtrics. At the end of your senior year you will receive a link to the survey.