UVM undergrads get taste of 'the cost of science'

The Marsh Life Sciences Building on the University of Vermont campus is cluttered with the usual assortment microscopes, test tubes, Bunsen burners and whatnot.

The building also has a rather unusual sight for a college at midsummer: undergraduate researchers.

Graduate students peering into microscopes or prodding at microbes are common enough at most universities. But UVM also extends the chance for pioneering biomedical research to students still in their teens, thanks to a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Called the Helix program, the money funds research projects for about 10 students. Just like professional scientists, the students must apply for funding, defend their proposals to a review board, and spend within their budget.

"It's made a large impact on the students' training," said professor Judith Van Houten, who oversees Helix gets them thinking about the cost of science."

The grants themselves are usually only a few thousand dollars. But given the tight budgets professors themselves have for biomedical research Helix funding provides that...