Binghamton University wins $1.2 million grant for freshman science-research program

BINGHAMTON — The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has awarded Binghamton University a five-year, $1.2 million grant to help launch and sustain its freshman-research immersion (FRI) program.

HHMI challenged the nation’s research universities to develop effective strategies to attract and retain students in science disciplines, including those from “underrepresented groups,” the university said in a news release.

“This award will help Binghamton provide first-year students with a year-long, authentic research experience in sciences and engineering,” Harvey Stenger, president of Binghamton University, said.

The FRI will initially channel 90 students in three research “streams,” or about 30 students per research area, beginning this fall, according to the school.

The research areas will focus on biofilms, or what Binghamton University describes as “microbial communities that create films on surfaces and are problematic in healthcare and industry;” neuroscience, or neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s; and smart energy, or generating and storing energy in more sustainable ways.

Each of Binghamton’s FRI research streams will include three to six research faculty designing the stream courses, themes, and goals, the school said.

Binghamton University will add three additional streams in fall 2015, and another three in fall 2016, to include biochemistry, biogeochemistry, biomedical engineering, molecular anthropology, and image-and-acoustic-signals analysis.

Such analysis combines computer science with electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.

Binghamton University has developed its FRI to “better engage” science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) students through research experiences alongside faculty and fellow students early in their college years, according to the school’s news release.

The university points to data from the Higher Education Research Institute of UCLA indicating that 60 percent of all undergraduates who begin college intending to major in a STEM discipline do not complete a STEM bachelor’s degree, and that number rises to 80 percent for freshmen from underrepresented groups.

Since 1988, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded more than $935 million in grants to 274 public and private colleges and universities to support science education in the U.S., some aimed at undergraduate-focused institutions and others at research universities, according to the Binghamton University news release.

HHMI is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md., according to its website.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com