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CORVALLIS - Oregon State University has received a four-year, $1.9 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to continue and expand innovative programs that improve biology and science education both for OSU undergraduate students and K-12 students in Oregon.

OSU is one of 44 major research universities across the nation to receive support from this medical research organization, which seeks to improve undergraduate teaching and research, expose more undergraduates to emerging fields in biology, and attract minority students to careers in science.

The grant recognizes OSU's commitment to excellence in undergraduate education in the sciences and the importance of undergraduate research, said Christopher Mathews, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and biophysics.

It is also closely tied to the university's long-term outreach activities to improve pre-college education in science and to nurture interest among minority students in science-based careers, he said.

"Particularly well received by the institute were our plans to integrate our activities in pre-college outreach, innovative course development, and undergraduate research," Mathews said, "so that students attracted to OSU through our outreach programs can, soon after arriving on campus, be welcomed into an enthusiastic community of research scholars that includes faculty, graduate students and other undergraduates."

This grant will allow OSU to sponsor at least 18 undergraduate students, and perhaps up to 10 more with funding from other areas, in a summer research experience working with OSU faculty mentors. In this initiative, students work side-by-side with faculty experts on original research, present their findings at a symposium and attend a series of research presentations by their mentors.

Entrance into this summer research program is competitive and based upon academic record, recommendations, the merit of the proposed project and other factors. The new grant will also allow OSU to create or improve several courses in various fields of science. An upper-division course for non-science majors will explore bioethical issues, new concepts in drug design, applications of cell and molecular biology, and other topics. Implementation of an electronic "chat room" will improve the interaction of students with each other and OSU faculty.

A problem-based learning approach that has worked well in a microbiology course for non-science majors will be expanded in a new course for majors in this area, doing problem solving in the life sciences. Three laboratory courses will be improved, and a seminar course will be developed to help graduate students learn about effective teaching techniques.

Several of these initiatives should also bring together students from different scientific disciplines, Mathews said, and encourage more interaction in problem-solving, laboratory and small-group formats.

Beyond the improvements for OSU biological education, the new grant will help support several of OSU's pioneering science outreach efforts in Oregon's public schools.

The grant is a key source of support for the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experience, or SMILE program at OSU, designed to encourage an interest in science among Hispanic, Native American, and other minority and low-income students in Oregon's elementary, middle and high schools. It helps support, among others things, science camps for elementary school students, a "bridge-to-college" program for high school seniors, and teacher workshops.

The funding also aids OSU's Science Educator Partnerships, or SEPS program, which used volunteer scientists mostly from the Corvallis area to work with local schools, serve as mentors and provide internship experiences. And new support will now be available for Science Connections, which links OSU faculty and students with Portland public schools. Activities in that program range from lectures in Portland high schools to students who travel to the Corvallis campus for an exercise in DNA fingerprinting. These science outreach programs, Mathews said, have already shown that they can significantly increase the rate at which participants attend college.

This is the third four-year grant that OSU has received from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Since 1988, the institute has awarded $556 million to 236 colleges and universities in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.