NSERC offers summer research awards for students to undertake a 4 month research project in the laboratory of a professor who is an NSERC grant holder.  Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences is part of the Faculty of Health Science, to which 8 USRA awards are allocated.  Because there are many more grant holders (see attached) than awards, they are highly competitive.  BBS typically receives 3 or fewer of the 8 awards, which are distributed in part among students of equal merit from different departments within FHS.

If you are interested in applying for an award, or sponsoring a student for an award, please be aware that only students of very high academic standing (11 or better) with some relevant research (or similar) training are competitive for these awards.  Please do not submit multiple applications, as only 1 per student or lab will be considered.  Official transcripts are required, so please leave time to order those from the Registrar’s office.

To apply, please follow the instructions on the NSERC website.

NSERC – Undergraduate Student Research Awards Program <http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/UG-PC/USRA-BRPC_eng.asp>

Please submit completed applications to BBS Undergraduate Coordinator Mizan Graham by NOON on Feb 16, 2012; after verifying completeness, she will forward them to Caroline Woods for evaluation by the awards committee which meets in late Feb/early March.  LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Check it out!!

Ortega lab website

http://web.me.com/ortegaj_mcmaster/Ortega_lab_web_site/Welcome.html

The Spotlight – Under the Microscope…

After the successful graduation of three of our students this year, the Ortega lab is looking for two new graduate students to join the lab in the fall. Our lab works in understanding how the bacterial ribosome is assembled and also in the structure and function of bacterial proteases. These enzymes perform intracellular protein degradation, process that is involved in almost every aspect of the biology of the cell. These two articles below are an example of our most recent work in these areas.

• Jomaa et al. Understanding Ribosome Assembly: the Structure of in vivo Assembled Immature 30S Subunits Revealed by Cryo-electron Microscopy. (2011). RNA. Epub Feb 8,2011. Download article 1

• Li et al. Acyldepsipeptide Antibiotics Induces the Formation of a Structured Axial Channel in ClpP: a Model for the ClpX/ClpA Bound State of ClpP. (2010). Chemistry and Biology. 17: 959-969.Download article 2

If you are a motivated student, willing to make a serious contribution to research and looking for prime training in biochemistry, stop by our lab or drop a line to Dr. Joaquin Ortega (ortegaj@mcmaster.ca).