Education and Phage Hunting Programs

Phage Hunting Opportunities

Opportunities for Pittsburgh-area high school students or University of Pittsburgh undergraduates to become researchers in the lab of Dr. Graham Hatfull.

Undergraduates

Undegraduate students can discover and characterize novel bacteriophages in the research lab of Dr. Graham F. Hatfull as members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professorship Phagehunting Program. As students characterize their bacteriophages, they can develop critical skills that allow them to investigate questions of interest about the phages and their hosts. To be considered, students are asked to complete the application linked here and return it, along with school transcripts to Debbie Jacobs-Sera (djs@pitt.edu), Program Coordinator.

Key research and educational goals are described in the paper, Exploring the Mycobacteriophage Metaproteome: Phage Genomics as an Educational Platform.

Key Program Features:

  • Ability to learn microbiology, molecular biology, and bioinformatic skills
  • One-on-one mentoring
  • Independent research of your own phage
  • Notebook meetings
  • Mentor training
  • Scientific presentation opportunities
  • Flexible scheduling
  • Mentoring duties of one 3-hour after school time slot

Undergraduate Student Application

High School

High school students can discover and characterize novel bacteriophages in the research lab of Dr. Graham F. Hatfull as members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professorship Phagehunting Program. Students can volunteer after school for the program beginning in mid-September and running through the school year. To be considered, students are asked to complete the application linked here and return it, along with school transcripts to Debbie Jacobs-Sera (djs@pitt.edu), Program Coordinator.

Refer to this article for more information about the program, its research process, and its educational goals. The program allows students to work in the lab a minimum of one afternoon a week, Monday – Thursday, with an undergraduate mentor. Checkout the key features at the undergraduate level for more information.

High School Student Application

Teacher Workshops

2013 Teacher Workshop

The 2013 Summer Teacher Phagehunting Workshop will be held at the University of Pittsburgh from June 24 – 28, 2013. The workshop is an opportunity to become a part of an ever-growing collaboration to do authentic science in your classrooms. Following the workshop, participants may request Phage in Box. Phage in a Box is a set of materials that enable you to discover novel bacteriophages in your classroom with your students. Application to the workshop is now closed. For those accepted, workshop information can be found at the Workshop Website.

Phage in a Box

Phage in a Box will be available only to Teacher Workshop participants. You can find the request form and additional resources at the Documents page to support your classroom instruction.