20.109(F22):M3D2

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20.109(F22): Laboratory Fundamentals of Biological Engineering

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Fall 2022 schedule        FYI        Assignments        Homework        Class data        Communication        Accessibility

       M1: Genomic instability        M2: Drug discovery        M3: Project design       


Exercises

Part 1: Pitch ideas for Research proposal presentation

Now that you have an idea that you want to explore for your Research proposal presentation, you will crowd source your peers and the teaching team to further develop your approach. At that start of class each team will pitch their idea to the class. The pitches should be ~5-minutes and provide a brief overview of the problem and solution. There are no slides for this assignment, just you verbally providing the information.

In your laboratory notebook, complete the following:

  • Record any questions that were asked when you pitched your idea. How might you address the questions?
  • Record any suggestions that were provided when you pitched your idea. How might you address the suggestions?

Part 2: Determine project needs and divide workload accordingly

In large scientific projects, one individual typically acts as a project manager (usually the team lead, PI, or senior postdoc). As project manager, this person identifies the broad goals of the project and the components necessary to complete and present the work to stakeholders or the scientific community. The project manager also distributes work amongst the rest of the group according to aptitude and availability.

For you project, you both should take on the project manager role at this stage. Now that you have ideas for the overall goal and specific aims, determine who will take responsibility for different phases of the project so that you can successfully deliver your final product. Identify what work needs to be completed, who will be responsible for that work, and the deadline by which each person will complete their part. Keep this in your lab notebook for easy reference as you continue the project. Keep in mind that most projects involve work on a section, a discussion and revision session with the larger group, and then individual edits and redirection based on the group discussion. Set your deadlines so that you will have time to discuss your work with your co-investigator and time to complete revisions of your work before the presentation deadline.

Questions to guide your discussion:

  1. What needs to be done for the project?
  2. Looking at this list, what parts does it make sense for each person to do (because of prior knowledge or interest)?
  3. What are reasonable deadlines for each component to be completed for group discussion?

In your laboratory notebook, complete the following:

  • Based on your discussion with your co-investigator, write down your list of tasks, deadlines, and who is assigned.

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