Supervised Research (SR) and Supervised Internships (SI)

Supervised Research in a laboratory gives students a chance to participate first-hand in a sophisticated training environment.  In addition to specific research techniques, students will learn practical skills in planning, analyzing, and troubleshooting, thus connecting knowledge learned in the classroom with the research field itself.  Students will benefit from working as part of a team, alongside experts in the field.  Through their research advisor and lab colleagues, students may also establish professional networks for their career development.  

Similarly, Supervised Internships in biotech-focused companies give students exposure to a professional work environment and intensive training in an aspect of the biotechnology industry not normally accessible in an academic classroom or laboratory setting, such as biotech consulting and/or investment.  High level analytical and communication skills will be honed, requiring a deep scientific foundation.  Training and feedback from industry professionals are invaluable benefits to this specific path for practical training.

Students enrolled in the MA in Biotechnology Program have the opportunity to receive academic credit while conducting Supervised Research under the guidance of a faculty mentor within the University (S4502) or a biotech business-specific Supervised Internship outside the University (S4503) within the New York City Metropolitan Area unless otherwise approved by the Program. Credits received from this course are used to fulfill the Practical Training requirement for the MA degree.

Students may work on a significant research problem or business-related goals as determined by their SR/SI Advisor, pending approval by the MA Program Director.  The student and the SR/SI Advisor determine the nature and extent of this supervised project.  In some laboratories, the student may be assigned to work with a postdoctoral fellow, graduate student or a senior member of the laboratory, who is in turn reports to the Research Advisor.   In the business environment, the student may work with a member of a business unit, who in turn reports to the Internship Advisor.  The SR/SI Advisor is responsible for guidance and evaluation of the student's progress and performance.

L. Yamasaki coordinates this course.  The coordinator is responsible for determining the appropriateness of the project in meeting degree requirements.  The coordinator also serves as a liaison between the Department of Biological Sciences and the SR/SI Advisors.  The coordinator assigns a grade at the end of the semester, strongly dependent on the grade recommendation from the SR/SI Advisors.

Required Readings:
Should I take this course? Read the Student Handbook, especially the "Lab requirements" section, carefully.

Course Content:
This course is open only to students in the MA in Biotechnology Program.

First, identify a lab or a company in which to conduct your practical training.  The SR/SI Advisor should be the person with whom you communicate directly about this possibility.  The SR/SI Advisor must have previous experience supervising students or interns and must be available for discussion with the Program Director and eventually will have direct knowledge about the student's progress.  Within the University, the SR Advisor should be a faculty member or the PI of the lab.   Within a company, the SI Advisor should be a prominent leader within the business unit of the company in which the internship will be conducted.

Inform the prospective SR/SI Advisor about the course requirements, deadlines and evaluation needed to earn credit for this practical training.  Do not simply send this web page without discussing the requirements with the proposed Advisor.  SR/SI Advisors must confirm his/her agreement to participated by contacting L. Yamasaki (ly63) directly and later to provide an evaluation.  

Second, fill out the SR/SI Registration Approval Form with all contact information for the SR/SI Advisor and for any daily/weekly SR Supervisor that reports to the SR/SI Advisor.  Once the e-mail from the SR/SI Advisor is received and the project approved, you can register online via SSOL.

Registration without proper approval will result in undesirable academic and financial consequences.  (i.e.  If you register without filling out and getting a signature on the SR Registration Approval Form, the course registration will not occur properly and your evaluation and grade will be affected.  Be sure to select Section 001 for 3 points (170 hours of effort) or Section 002 for 6 points (340 hours of effort).

Files:
SR/SI Registration Approval Form

Class Plan:
First, discuss your project with your SR/SI. Advisor.

Assignment:
Write a 1- or 2-page project proposal and once your SR/SI Advisor has approved of its content, then submit it via CourseWorks.  In the proposal, state the immediate goals you wish to accomplish during the project timeline and how you intend to accomplish these goals.  List the types of experiments or analysis to be performed.  Discuss anticipated outcomes.  Remember this is a project proposal for what you intend to accomplish within the semester, not what a team would accomplish in the next 5 years.

The SR/SI proposal should be submitted to Courseworks by the deadline indicated above.

A word about confidential information:
Students may be asked by the host institution or business to sign confidential agreements.  Such an agreement is between the student and the host institution, not between the course coordinator or the University and the host institution.  Therefore, students should not send anything confidential to the course coordinator.  That said, enough work must be disclosed to justify earning the academic credit for the student's effort, and so projects requiring blanket confidentiality are not suitable for SR or SI.  Students are advised to have a firm's legal department check all reports before submitting to the coordinator.  Caution:  This can cause an additional week of delay.

Class Plan:
Think of this as a mid-term evaluation from yourself.  Have you learned anything new?  Have you done anything worthwhile?  Have you accomplished as much as you had hoped?  Is there a change of plan from the originally proposed goals?  

Assignments :
Write a 2-3 page progress report and submit it via Courseworks and to the SR/SI Advisor by the indicated date (see deadlines). The report should include the work performed up to that point, results (or the lack of), and deviation from the proposal, if any.

Note: If you split a SR/SI project into two terms (3 points each), write a four page Interim Report at the end of the first term. In that Interim Report, you should also include what you plan to do during the second term.  Instead, if you will be switching to another SR/SI project for your second term, then write a full Final Report as described below.  (Another midterm Progress Report is required for the second term.)

Class Plan:

Effort - SR/SI requires 170 hours for 3 points or 340 hours for 6 points.  Some of this time commitment may include time spent reading research articles or writing summaries or white papers as directed by the SR/SI Advisor, but productivity is best documented by being on-site and in-person.   After-hours and weekend work is not recommended for new students and interns, because it decreases the effectiveness of the practical training of Supervised Research and Supervised Internships. 

Productivity - Additionally, projects are never just about counting hours.  If the SR/SI Advisor feels that not much has been accomplished, even if the required number of hours have been met, then students may still be expected to do more.  Depending on the SR/SI Project, the student may be assigned to work with a daily/weekly SR/SI Supervisor (e.g., postdoc, senior grad student or another senior member that reports to the SR/SI Advisor) to direct the training.  Frequent meetings between the student and the SR/SI Advisor or the daily/weekly SR/SI Supervisor are recommended to increase productivity and keep students on-track.

If the project has not been completed and the student would like more time to work on it, contact L. Yamsaki before the semester ends.  The completion of the course does not depend on the completion of all goals originally listed in the proposal.  

Final Report - At the end of SR/SI, a Final Report (10 pages, double-spaced) must be submitted to the Program Director via CourseWorks and to the SR/SI Advisor directly.  This Final Report should summarize the goals of the project, the rationale for the project undertaken, the approach taken, the results achieved, and then the implications of the results for future decision-making should be discussed.  If the proposed work was not performed, then a discussion of why that happened should be included.  Data and summary figures/tables should be included whenever appropriate.  Citations and a reference section should be included.

Acknowledgements - If another member of the team (lab or business unit) has provided key resources and/or support, then be sure to acknowledge those items or efforts by key individuals in the training environment.  

Submission - Submit only electronic copies of the final report to your SR/SI Advisor directly and to the Program Director via Courseworks by the stated deadline.  Late reports will be penalized.  Remember to leave enough time for screening by a company's legal team before submitting to the Program Director.

If you split a single SR/SI project into two terms, then a shorter 4-page Interim Report is due at the end of the first term and the full 10-page Final Report is required at the end of the second term.

Evaluations - L. Yamasaki will contact the SR/SI Advisor for an evaluation of the student's  work, following submission of the SR Final Report.  Please note that only faculty Advisors can officially evaluate and submit grade recommendations of the student's work.  They may choose to consult a daily SR/SI Supervisor for any input on the student's performance or training.  Evaluations are due 1 week following submission of the SR/SI Final Report.
 

The SR/SI final grade depends on the work completed, the evaluation from the SR/SI Advisor, the timely submission and quality of the Progress Report and Final Report.  In general, the grade matches the SR/SI Advisor's evaluation, unless there are missing reports or the quality/substance of the reports submitted is lacking.  

If the work has been completed and all the papers have been submitted, but the Advisor has not submitted the evaluation, then the grade given may be CP (credit pending).  A letter grade will be entered once the Advisor's evaluation is received.  

If the SR/SI project will be completed in two terms, then a grade of YC (Year Credit) may be given for the first term. At the end of the second term, a final letter grade will be entered for both terms.

Q: I plan to do my Supervised Internship (SI) in a biotech-focused firm. They don't want me to tell you what we will be doing. Can I get credit if I don't tell you what I do, whom I work for or don't write any report? 

A: No. 

Q: Then what should I do? 

A: The Program Director will discuss the planned internship project with the SI Advisor and the trainee before the internship is approved, and confidentiality that prevents disclosure of activities can usually be avoided for a project if considered in advance.  Any Internship Report that you submit for credit will need to clear the firm's legal review ahead of submission to the MA Program, which may take 1-2 weeks.  Please note that the MA program will not to sign any confidential agreement between the company and the University. The reports are simply for us to know whether you have learned anything.

Q: I want to enter a biotech-focused business. Can I do an office internship? 

A: Depending on the biotech-focused project that can be defined and executed with the business firm identified, yes, a Supervised Internship (SI) may be conducted as practical training.   It will require a senior SI Advisor and possibly a SI Supervisor (daily weekly) with the relevant biotech expertise and history of training interns.

However, remember that what sets you apart from those with a MBA is your scientific aptitude. With solid scientific training, you are much more qualified than they are in science and not as qualified in business. Without practical research training, you are not much more qualified than they are in science and still not as qualifed in business. 

Q: A Supervised Internship in the business field is extremely important for my future career. Can I get paid for my work if I do an internship in a biotech-focused firm? 

A: In general it is a poor arrangement to receive both money and academic credit for the same work. When you receive credit only, you are a student. Your relationship with your Advisor is 'student-teacher.' Your primary goal is to learn. Your Advisor's primary function is to provide guidance and training. However, once you start to accept monetary compensation, the relationship changes into 'employee-employer.' Your primary function is to provide service. Your Advisor-Employer's function is to verify that your service is worth your pay. In many case this dual relationship results in conflicting expectations. Therefore for the sake of your education and future career, we strongly advise you not to seek payment for Supervised Internship. 

However, we understand that unusual situations are the norm for our MA students. Although we discourage you from receiving payment we do not prohibit your doing so. (International students should follow Immigration Laws. Check first with the Program Office and the ISSO.) 

To receive payment for Supervised Internship, the following conditions must be met:

1. It is a pre-established, paid position, such as an industry internships.
2. The Advisor understands and agrees that your primary function is to receive training.
3. You must have intellectual input in your project.
4. Any service you perform is directly related to your training. ​