A rare chance for undergrads to “do” science instead of just study it: B3 REU

This summer, ten pre-med and science majors (four of them from The City College of New York) got out of the lecture hall and into the lab to get hands-on with science.

Their first hurdle was to get into the B³ REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) program, which is extremely competitive. In fact applicants had a better chance of getting into Harvard (4.9% acceptance rate) than getting into B³ REU – with an acceptance rate of just 4%.

It’s called B³ because student fellows are paired with faculty to perform research in biochemistry, biophysics, and biodesign in the Center for Discovery and Innovation and the CUNY Advanced Science Research Center. “Undergraduates interested in science don’t usually have one-to-one access to faculty. Nor do they get a chance to be embedded in a lab for a close-up view of how science really happens. This experience helps them better understand the highs and lows; the real world of science – and what lies ahead,” says David Jeruzalmi, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at City College, who directs the program.

The goal of CCNY’s B³ REU program is to find the most highly qualified and highly diverse candidates and help them learn something about science they would never have learned otherwise. Mission accomplished, according to Crystal Bella, a Biochemistry/Psychology junior at City College. “Physically experiencing scientific concepts and practices helped me understand how science is done on a deeper level.”

All B³ REU fellows received stipends and plenty of mentoring, in the form of weekly group meetings, meetings with faculty and with Jeruzalmi. At the end of the program the fellows presented their lessons learned to all of the participating faculty.

The selection process to be funded by the National Science Foundation was also competitive. CCNY’s three-year B³ REU program was one of just 112 college sites in the country.

B³ REU student fellows:

• Crystal Bella, The City College of New York
• Zachary Cohen, Kenyon College
• Andrew Huss, Chaffey College
• Sakeenah Hussein, Queens College
• Inzamamdeen Kassim, The City College of New York
• Charlene Kotei, The City College of New York
• Carolina Millan, Kingsborough Community College
• Christo Varaimon, The City College of New York/Macaulay Honors College
• Eva Verzani, Bowdoin College
• Chyana Woodyard, Hampton University

About The City College of New York 
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. Today The Chronicle of Higher Education ranks CCNY #2 among public colleges with the greatest success in ensuring the social mobility of our student body; at the same time the Center for world University Rankings places it in the top 1.2% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. More than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight professional schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself.  View CCNY Media Kit.