This year-long course is being taught for the first time starting fall semester 2003 and will be dramatically different from all of the other courses a freshman would normally take at IU. It is less about specific knowledge transfer - factual information acquired during the course - and more about the development of inquiry skills. To be a scientist, one must learn to ask the right questions. If you ask the right question, you will usually get the answer that you need. In this course, students will learn how to gather the information necessary to ask the right question. In the fall semester, we will focus on biological questions at the subcellular and cellular levels.In the spring semester we will focus on biological questions at the organismal level, with an emphasis on the vertebrate nervous system. Recurring themes in the course will be:

1. How does access to information and knowledge lead to novel research questions?
2. How are data converted to useful information?
3. How does access to information affect the biological sciences?
4. How can information be used to build knowledge?

For more information on the IFLE program see http://hhmi.bio.indiana.edu/ifle/

L211, Molecular Biology

This course will help students gain an in-depth understanding of the major molecules in molecular biology: DNA, RNA, and protein. To do this, we explore both their structures and functions. We also study how these molecules are related to each other through transcription, translation, and replication. We expect students to go beyond "fact-learning" and use information  from the lectures and the text to solve problems that require critical thought.

(note: I am not slated to teach this class in the near future)

Z620, Grant Writing

This course is targeted to second year graduate students in biology. After discussing the mechanics of how to write a persuasive grant proposal, students review several proposals from previous participants in the class and conduct a formal grant review panel to rank the proposals. Students then write a grant proposal of their own on a topic related to their dissertation work. Drafts are critiqued by a faculty instructor at several stages before submitting a final version.   Each proposal is anonymously reviewed by three fellow students, and then discussed in a final grant panel. By participating in all aspects of the grant writing and reviewing process, students will gain essential experience in the art and science of grant writing.