Directed Introduction to Research (BIOL 2996)

Directed Introduction to Research is a 1-credit introduction to laboratory or field biological research for students with no prior experience, normally first- and second-year students (but students in any year can take this course). This is meant to provide a shadowing experience with a research group, including attending lab meetings and spending time with a researcher in the lab for just a few hours a week. This is not meant to be an in-depth research experience--students who are ready for that level of involvement should register for 4000-level Directed Research/Studies (as described below).

Directed Research or Directed Studies (4000-level)

Registering for Directed Research (4994), Directed Studies (4993), Writing Intensive Directed Research (4794W) or Writing Intensive Directed Studies (4793W) allows you to get credit for conducting research or independent studies. To get a permission number to register, you must first submit an online directed research contract. Both you and your faculty mentor will have sections to fill out. See below for additional registration instructions, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Faculty Guidance:

For faculty working with Directed Introduction to Research, Directed Research or Directed Studies students, please see Expectations for Faculty around Directed Research/Studies.

How do I register?

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I register for Directed Introduction to Research (BIOL 2996)?

  The University Directed Studies contract will be used to describe the training experience which could include attending lab meetings, reading and discussing research papers from the lab, learning basic lab and field techniques, assays, and approaches used by the research group, and learning to keep a lab or field notebook. 

  Follow these steps to register:

  1. Work with your faculty mentor to define the goals of your shadowing experience, and determine how you will be evaluated.

     • As a 1 credit course, you are expected to spend a combined 3 hours a week in research group meetings, interacting with group members and/or your faculty mentor. 

  2. Submit a Directed Research / Directed Studies Contract through wfgen. Instructions on what to include are available in the student instructions at this link. If you have already opened this form once, there may be an existing form already created for you in the system (you can check wfgen for existing forms). You should submit the contract prior to the 10th day of the semester. After this deadline, you can still petition the Scholastics Committee to register. Thus, get started early to ensure your contact is submitted on time.
     • You can customize what to enter in the boxes in the contract with your faculty mentor, but for BIOL 2996, typically the boxes should say something like:

       • Project Description:  “I'll be spending about 3 hours a week on the 1 credit course. I'll attend the lab meetings and shadow one of the lab members for about 2 hours a week. At the end, I will be writing a reflection-type report on what I learned from the experience.”

       • Project Methods, Resources and Strategies: “I will be learning about [research methods and topics in the faculty member's research program], and will be introduced to resources like PubMed [and/or other scientific literature databases] and online scientific journal articles.”

  3. After you submit your contract, it will be sent to your faculty mentor for approval. Make sure your faculty mentor knows what information to include by sharing the faculty instructions at this link with them.  Following approval by your faculty mentor, the contract must be sent to your Director of Undergraduate Studies. Please give this contact information to your faculty mentor so they know to whom they should route your contract. You can find contact information for the Directors of Undergraduate Studies on this web page. You should periodically check the status of your contract to ensure it is being processed. Instructions for checking the status of your contract can be viewed here. Any questions about submitting or checking the status of your contract should be directed to cbsrsrch@umn.edu.
  4. Once your contract is fully approved, you will be sent a permission number and instructions for registering. You MUST follow these instructions to register for the course! If you fail to do so, you will not be registered, and will have to submit a petition to the Scholastics Committee to add the course.
  5. Work on your project throughout the semester, and complete any final projects or summaries agreed upon by you and your faculty mentor.
  6. At the end of the semester, your faculty mentor will receive an email requesting grades from cbsrsrch@umn.edu. All Directed Research or Directed Studies courses are graded S/N (satisfactory / not satisfactory). 
• How do I register for Directed Research (4994) or Directed Studies (4993)?

  Follow these steps to register:

  1. Work with your faculty mentor to define the goals of your research project, and determine how you will be evaluated.
  2. Submit a Directed Research / Directed Studies Contract through wfgen. Instructions on what to include are available in the student instructions at this link. If you have already opened this form once, there may be an existing form already created for you in the system (you can check wfgen for existing forms). You should submit the contract prior to the 10th day of the semester. After this deadline, you can still petition the Scholastics Committee to register. Thus, get started early to ensure your contact is submitted on time.
  3. After you submit your contract, it will be sent to your faculty mentor for approval. Make sure your faculty mentor knows what information to include by sharing the faculty instructions at this link with them. Following approval by your faculty mentor, the contract must be sent to your Director of Undergraduate Studies. Please give this contact information to your faculty mentor so they know to whom they should route your contract. You can find contact information for the Directors of Undergraduate Studies on this web page. You should periodically check the status of your contract to ensure it is being processed. Instructions for checking the status of your contract can be viewed here. Any questions about submitting or checking the status of your contract should be directed to cbsrsrch@umn.edu.
  4. Once your contract is fully approved, you will be sent a permission number and instructions for registering. You MUST follow these instructions to register for the course! If you fail to do so, you will not be registered, and will have to submit a petition to the Scholastics Committee to add the course.
  5. Work on your project throughout the semester, and complete any final projects or summaries agreed upon by you and your faculty mentor.
  6. At the end of the semester, your faculty mentor will receive an email requesting grades from cbsrsrch@umn.edu. All Directed Research or Directed Studies courses are graded S/N (satisfactory / not satisfactory).
      
• What are the expectations, and how do I register for Writing Intensive Directed Research (4794W) or Writing Intensive Directed Studies (4793W)?

  Writing Intensive Directed Research (WI-DR) or Writing Intensive Directed Studies (WI-DS) require that the student and faculty mentor engage in ongoing writing instruction over the entire semester. Writing a paper at the end of the semester without sustained interaction around writing will not fulfill this requirement. A full description of WI requirements and expectations can be found here and here. In your contract, your faculty mentor must provide explicit details about the writing instruction that will be provided.

  If you plan to submit a contract for writing-intensive directed research (4794W) you are required to participate in a writing support course and need to choose a section depending on whether your are a University Honors Program student or not.

  There are two section options for each offering of 4794W.

   

  • Sec 001: Writing-intensive directed research course with a writing support course that meets on Fridays,10:00-10:50 a.m.. 
  • Sec 002: Writing-intensive research for University Honors Program students who are receiving writing support via the BIOL 4961H course.

  If you are submitting a contract for writing-intensive directed research, you MUST select a section in your contract. If you do not select a section, the contract will be returned to you. Students who have a time conflict with the writing support course should contact the instructor, Dana Davis (dadavis@umn.edu).  

  The writing support course provides students with structure and pacing for the writing process to ensure time for revisions. It provides support for students in interactions with PIs, and a peer community to help make writing a manageable and fulfilling experience. The writing support course does not replace writing instruction provided by the PI.

  Generally, WI-DR is meant for students to write a capstone paper of their work in a lab over a longer period of time than one semester. As such, it is beneficial for you to have prior experience working on the project before you register for WI-DR. Sometimes students who engage in WI-DR in the first semester in a lab are unsuccessful in completing their research and their writing all in one semester. Therefore, you should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies if you plan to register for WI-DR without prior experience on the project. This requirement does not apply to WI-DS.

  Follow these steps to register:

  1. Review the WI requirements and expectations and confirm that your faculty mentor is willing to provide ongoing writing instruction throughout the entire semester. This means working on informal and formal writing with you and providing instruction about scientific writing conventions and clarity. Many mentors are happy to have you in the laboratory, but are less able to find the time to actively instruct writing. Writing a paper at the end of the semester without sustained interaction around writing will not fulfill this requirement. Make sure that your PI understands that he/she is responsible for meeting the requirements of a WI course instructor. There are many standard WI courses in CBS that you can take to fulfill the requirement as well.

  2. Work with your faculty mentor to define the the informal and formal writing you will be required to complete throughout the semester. Be sure you agree upon a clear  a timeline with deadlines and writing/feedback deliverables to structure the writing and instruction throughout the semester. 

  3. Submit a Directed Research / Directed Studies Contract through wfgen. If you have already opened this form once, there may be an existing form already created for you in the system (you can check wfgen for existing forms). You should submit the contract prior to the 10th day of the semester. After this deadline, you can still petition the Scholastics Committee to register. Thus, get started early to ensure your contact is submitted on time.

  4. After you submit your contract, it will be sent to your faculty mentor for approval. Your faculty mentor must provide explicit details about the writing instruction that will be provided. Following approval by your faculty mentor, the contract must be sent to your Director of Undergraduate Studies. Please give this contact information to your faculty mentor so they know to whom they should route your contract. You can find contact information for the Directors of Undergraduate Studies on this web page. You should periodically check the status of your contract to ensure it is being processed. Instructions for checking the status of your contract can be viewed here. Any questions about submitting or checking the status of your contract should be directed to cbsrsrch@umn.edu.

  5. Once your contract is fully approved, you will be sent a permission number and instructions for registering. You MUST follow these instructions to register for the course! If you fail to do so, you will not be registered, and will have to submit a petition to the Scholastics Committee to add the course.

  6. Work on your project throughout the semester, and complete the work agreed upon by you and your faculty mentor.

  7. IMPORTANT: Complete your final writing product and obtain final approval by your faculty mentor. Once you receive approval from your faculty mentor, submit your paper to the course Canvas site by the final day of instruction for review by the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUGS). They will review your paper and assign your final course grade. Occasionally they ask for revisions to meet capstone standards, so be prepared for that possibility. Your faculty mentor will also receive an email from cbsrsrch@umn.edu approximately 3 weeks prior to the last day of instruction requesting a S/N grade for your research participation.

• When do I need to submit my directed research or directed studies contract?

  You should plan to submit your contract by the 10th day of the semester. If you cannot submit your contract by that date, you can still submit a petition to the Scholastics Committee to register.

• I am an Honors student thinking about taking Writing Intensive Directed Research (4794W) or Writing Intensive Directed Studies (4793W). What do I need to know?

  As an Honors student you should plan to register for Writing Intensive Directed Research (WI-DR) or WI Directed Studies during the Spring semester of your senior year, the same semester that you’ll be taking BIOL 4961H and completing your thesis. The BIOL 4960/4961 course sequence scaffolds writing instruction and thesis writing and you do not need another finished product to meet the WI requirement. This is the only semester in which you should register for WI-DR, unless you are working on a non-thesis based project.

  For any additional questions, please contact your UHP advisor, or Dr. Leslie Schiff (schif002@umn.edu).

• How do I find a faculty member to work with for Directed Introduction to Research (BIOL 2996) Directed Research (4994/4794W) or Directed Studies (4993/4793W)?

  Review Steps 2 and 3 of the CBS Research Roadmap for tips on identifying interests and faculty mentors. Another option is to check GopheResearch to see if any faculty have active postings for students in BIOL 2996 Directed Introduction to Research or 4000-level Directed Research/Studies. If you need help finding a faculty member to work with, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUGS) for your major. If faculty have questions about Directed Research or Directed Studies courses, you can refer them to the Expectations for Faculty around Directed Research / Studies.

• What is the difference between Directed Research (4994/4794W) and Directed Studies (4993/4793W)?

  Directed Research is appropriate if your project involves independent, mentored research. If you are generating novel results, or conducting new analyses, your work will likely fall under Directed Research.

  Directed Studies is more appropriate if you are doing a literature review project that does not incorporate data collection or novel data analysis.

• How many credits should I choose?

  For 2996: You should register for one credit. For 4000-level: You are expected to work 45 hours per semester for each credit that you receive. So, to register for 3 credits, you would need to work a total of 135 hours over the course of the semester (approximately 8-10 hours per week). You should work out with your faculty mentor how many hours per week you will be expected to work in the lab, and register accordingly.

• Which course designator should I select?

  For 2996, you should choose the BIOL designator. For the 4000-level you should select the course designator that corresponds to your major.

• Why hasn’t my contract been approved yet?

  After you submit your contract, it must be approved by your faculty mentor, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, and the Undergraduate Research Coordinator. This can often take some time. You can check the status of your submitted contracts by following the instructions in this guide. If you’re still concerned about the status of your contract, please email cbsrsrch@umn.edu.

• Can I receive a letter grade instead of a S/N?

  All Directed Research or Directed Studies courses are graded S/N (satisfactory / not satisfactory). No exceptions will be made.

• Why isn’t this course showing up on my course schedule?

  Please double check that you registered for the course using the instructions sent after your contract was approved. If you still have questions, contact cbsrsrch@umn.edu.

• Will this course count toward my major?

  Please schedule an appointment with your academic advisor to determine how Directed Research or Directed Studies will fit in with your degree requirements.

• How does my faculty mentor submit my grade at the end of the semester?

  For Directed Research (4994) or Directed Studies (4993) courses, your faculty mentor will receive an email requesting grades from cbsrsrch@umn.edu. This email is usually sent a couple days prior to the last day of instruction.

  For Writing Intensive Directed Research (4794W) or Directed Studies (4793W) courses, your faculty mentor will receive an email requesting grades for the research portion of your work. This email will be sent from cbsrsrch@umn.edu approximately 3 weeks prior to the last day of instruction. Additionally, you MUST upload your final paper to the course site by the last day of instruction. Your paper will be reviewed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, who will then submit your final grade.

• If I want to continue my project in another semester, do I need to submit a new contract?

  Yes, you will need to submit a new contract each semester you wish to receive credit.

• How do I submit a petition to the Scholastics Committee?

  You can find the form and instructions here. When submitting the petition, please include your approved directed research contract.

• Can I get paid and earn directed research credit in the same lab?

  In CBS, we want to ensure that students who are interested in directed research are able to take advantage of this opportunity. We also understand that, for many, there is a financial barrier to spending a considerable amount of time in a lab. Students may not be paid for time spent in the lab in which they are earning academic credit, however students may be paid for hours they work in a research group over and above those for which they earn academic credit.
  
  Importantly, students and faculty mentors must prioritize student learning and Directed Research project work (as defined in the Directed Research contract) for the hours spent as academic credit hours. Students and faculty mentors are responsible for showing clear accounting of hours and documenting the time spent on academic credit separately and accurately. As an example, if a student is spending a total of 15 hours per week in a lab but is only earning credit for 9 of those hours (for 3 credits), the other 6 hours could be paid. In these situations, paid hours should be spent on work outside the scope of the Directed Research contract (e.g. additional experiments beyond the research planned in the contract, assisting other group members with experiments, or maintenance/support tasks). Over the course of the semester, each credit of Directed Research is expected to represent 45 hours worth of work.
  
  If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, please contact cbsrsrch@umn.edu.