Frequently Asked Questions

Biology Affiliate Program

Q: What is this Program and who are the Affiliates?

A: The Biology Concentration Affiliates program offers a way for students and sponsors to identify one another, and for facilitating an appropriate and fulfilling research experience for all concerned. Affiliates work with students to develop a program that trains them in research and that is intellectually challenging. Frequently, on a day-to-day basis, the undergraduates work with a postdoctoral or pre-doctoral fellow as mentor. The sponsor, mentor and student should come to a consensus about the expectations that each has, in terms of time and intellectual commitment, and in terms of how the project will be graded.

It should be understood by the Affiliate that projects which are purely technical, and which do not permit the student to develop skills in data interpretation and experimental design are not acceptable research projects for our concentrators. Undergraduates participating in research projects for course credit should be expected to be full participants in meetings of their laboratory groups, including presentations of their own research programs.

We currently have about 90 Affiliates from the Boston Medical Area and on the Cambridge campus. These Affiliates formally participate as mentors in our supervised research programs (Biology 98r, 99ar, 99b, and 200r), and as such, have full responsibility for directing and evaluating student work.

Students taking a supervised research course with an Affiliate do not need to find a Biology co-sponsor.

The Affiliates represent a broad range of scientific specialties, and many seek students for summer or yearlong projects. Detailed descriptions of on-going research and laboratory openings can be found in the Biology Affiliates section of our website.

updated 01/01/05