What Has Been Achieved:

Working alongside FSLI’s existing SURF program, GlycoMIP has the opportunity to plug into an existing program with a long-standing history of introducing undergraduate students to graduate-level research. The SURF program provides students valuable opportunities that include professional development workshops, first-hand laboratory experience, and one-on-one mentorship by GlycoMIP faculty and staff.

Importance of the Achievement:

GlycoMIP’s participation in Virginia Tech’s MAOP and SURF programs offers students interested in glycomaterials research a unique opportunity to gain experience working in a cutting-edge user facility. For GlycoMIP to achieve its goals of educating and training the next generation of glycomaterials scientists, we must engage not only graduate students, but also undergraduates and encourage them to pursue careers in some facet of Glycoscience. Through its partnership with the MAOP and SURF programs, GlycoMIP is able to provide undergraduates with a research experience that introduced them to glycomaterials and set them up to be successful in their graduate careers.

Unique Feature(s) of the MIP that Enabled this Achievement:

The GlycoMIP User Facility at Virginia Tech is housed within Steger Hall, the flagship building of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI), where addition laboratories, synergistic to GlycoMIP, are located. GlycoMIP’s summer undergraduate researchers were able to work in an exciting environment and among other talented undergraduate interns working in the life sciences. The GlycoMIP cohort worked directly with faculty, GlycoMIP scholars (postdoctoral associates and graduate students), and experts in the field in a state-of-the-art laboratory setting with resources unlike any other.