20.109(F10)

Fall 2010

Instructors: Angela Belcher, Michelle Sukup Jackson, Orsolya Kiraly, Natalie Kuldell, Nate Tedford and K. Dane Wittrup
Writing Instructor: Neal Lerner, Linda Sutliff
Oral Presentation Instructor: Atissa Banuazizi
Graduate TAs: John Casey, Jing Ge, Mark Smith

Lecture: T/R 11-12 (4-153)
Lab: T/R 1-5 (56-322)
Seminar Room: 16-336

Welcome to 20.109! For many of you this will be the first time in a research lab and for others it will not, but it is our goal to make this class a useful and fun introduction to experiments and techniques in biological engineering. There is not time enough to show you everything you’ll need to know if you go on to do research, but after taking this class you should feel confident and familiar with some fundamental experimental approaches and lab protocols. You will develop good habits at the bench, ones that will increase the likelihood of success in your work and ensure the health and safety of you and those around you. By the end of the semester, you should also be aware of good scientific practice, having had some experience with report writing, notebook keeping and publicly presenting your data. All of us involved in teaching 20.109 hope you will find it a satisfying challenge and an exciting experience that has lasting value.

• To submit your major assignments, access the Stellar drop-box that's here

Announcements

• Mark will hold office hours in preparation for the second journal club presentations and your research paper from 2 - 4 PM on Monday November 8 and again from 2 - 4 PM on Wednesday November 10 in the teaching lab.

• Some very nice ideas and guidelines about M&M sections have been written by an extraordinary teacher, Tucker Crum, and they can be found here.

• Please note that the Journal Club powerpoints are due at 11 AM on the day you're speaking. The order in which they are uploaded to the Stellar site is the order in which you will speak. Anyone who would *prefer* to speak during the lecture hour (11-12) vs the lab hours (1-5) can email NK directly to arrange this!

• The P3 assignments that you turned in last week will be returned to the Stellar site tonight, and for the versions with hand-written comments, they are available in a folder outside NK’s office door (16-325). You’ll get feedback from NK, NT, and NL or LS. The mean on this assignment was 84 and the range was 77-98.

• You can find the latest changes to the 20.109 wiki at Recent changes for 20.109

• You can find old announcements here