The Marine Biological Laboratory The Croucher Foundation
   
The Program:
The Joint Universities Summer Teaching Laboratory (JUSTL) program is an 8 week intensive research experience for Hong Kong postgraduate students at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA. Program activities will be centered round a Croucher Foundation-funded summer laboratory located within the Rowe Building at the MBL. JUSTL program participants will conduct individual research projects, attend lectures and seminars, as well as undergo training in specialist techniques. These activities will be under the guidance of the JUSTL program Director as well as leading volunteer MBL Summer Scientist mentors, drawn from universities and institutions from around the world. Current volunteer mentors of the JUSTL program are listed in this website under the heading ¡§JUSTL Mentors¡¨. The JUSTL program is scheduled to run for the months of June and July. This is to coincide with the MBL¡¦s three prestigious summer courses: Embryology, Physiology and Neurobiology.
   
The Research Environment:

Whitman Building, MBLThe MBL is an international center for research, education, and training in biology. It was established in 1888 as an institute where marine organisms were used as model systems in the study of cell biology, physiology, neurobiology, and embryology. During the summer season, the 200 year-round scientists and support staff of the MBL are joined by an additional 800 scientists and postgraduate students from over 200 institutions around the world. The majority of the scientists in residence at the MBL use marine organisms as model systems for understanding basic processes in cell, molecular, neuro- and developmental biology. Many studies have broad biomedical implications. In addition, the MBL's Ecosystem Center houses a large group of marine ecologists, microbiologists, and population geneticists. Scientists are also attracted to the MBL by the opportunity to collaborate with investigators at the other scientific institutions in Woods Hole. These include the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the United States Geological Survey, and the Woods Hole Research Center (devoted to research in ecology and environmental policy). In the small village of Woods Hole, this concentration of scientific institutions results in a scientific community that is both unique and inspirational.
 
Research Facilities:

Marine Resources Center

The MBL houses a number of dedicated research facilities, the combination of which results in a unique research environment. These include a state-of-the-art Marine Resources Center (MRC), which provides for the latest approaches in husbandry and mariculture of marine organisms, the NIH-supported BioCurrents Research Center, a Central Microscopy Facility that houses advanced equipment for 2-photon fluorescent confocal microscopy combined with computer imaging, and the MBL/WHOI library, which is one of the most complete science libraries in the world.
Holding Tanks, MRCMRC Building DockSquidgate, MBL Collecting Dock
   
The JUSTL Program Summer laboratory:

With funding provided by the Croucher Foundation and the Government of the Hong Kong SAR, the JUSTL program will rent a summer laboratory for the months of June and July during the summer season at the MBL. This laboratory will be located within the ¡§Neuroimaging Cluster¡¨, a group of regular MBL summer scientists who occupy a portion of the Rowe Building. This summer lab will be the hub of the JUSTL program¡¦s activities. It will provide bench space for JUSTL participants to carry out their summer project research, it will house JUSTL program equipment and consumable supplies, it will provide internet access for JUSTL participants to keep in touch with their home labs back in Hong Kong, and it will provide a meeting place for JUSTL participants to discuss and share their MBL summer season experiences. Even if a JUSTL program participant is taking one of the MBL¡¦s summer courses or is located in the lab of an MBL Summer Scientist mentor for the duration of his/her summer project, the JUSTL lab will still provide a home-base for the student to interact with other JUSTL program participants.
 
Lectures and Seminars:

There will be numerous opportunities for JUSTL participants to attend a variety of seminars and lectures. The JUSTL Program has been organized to coincide with the MBL¡¦s premier educational courses, which run throughout the summer. These include the world famous Embryology, Physiology, and Neurobiology summer courses that have been running for over 100 years. These courses draw their instructors from leading researchers in their respective fields and each offers a daily lecture or seminar series, which is open to the scientific community at large. Furthermore, the ¡§MBL Friday Night Lecture Series¡¨ brings in speakers of particular note who are of interest to a wider audience. Additionally, a number of courses and groups sponsor informal evening or lunch-time seminars. JUSTL students will be encouraged and expected to attend these summer course lectures whenever possible, as well as research seminars specifically designed for JUSTL participants.
 
Summer Research Project:

The major portion of each student's time at the MBL will be dedicated to an individual research project. This will be carried out under a variety of possible options. For example, it could be under the direction of one of the JUSTL participating volunteer summer scientist mentors, or through the direction, via the internet, of the student¡¦s home institution supervisor, or perhaps a combination of both. It could also be under the supervision of the JUSTL program Director with input from JUSTL Program mentors. One of the main objectives of the JUSTL Program is to give students the opportunity to interact with scientists from around the world, to be introduced to the latest research methodologies, and to experience first-hand the intensity, enthusiasm, and excitement for which the MBL summer experience is known.
 
General Program Activities:

At the beginning of the program, JUSTL participants will be introduced (where applicable) to their MBL summer scientist mentors and will be taken on tours of the major core facilities at the MBL to show them what kinds of support services are available and how they operate. These tours include the library and its associated computer and electronic database services, the Central Microscopy Facility, the Marine Resources Center, and General Use Equipment Rooms. Additionally, there will be a presentation from the health and safety administrator of the MBL to the group to inform them of procedures for the use and disposal of potentially harmful or toxic items, the safety systems that are in place to deal with any accidents, and the special concerns related to seawater tanks that drain into the surrounding harbors. Also scheduled during the first week will be an overview lecture presented by the JUSTL Program Director to prepare the students for attending many of the lectures and seminars at the MBL. Other specialized tutorials will be arranged for those students MBL/WHO Librarywho want to learn more about certain techniques, such as confocal microscopy. As they are open to the entire MBL summer community, students will also begin attending lectures in some of the MBL summer courses such as Physiology, Neurobiology, and Embryology. The initiation of these course lectures coincides with the beginning of the JUSTL Program. Depending on their research interest, students will also be encouraged to attend additional seminars in the Neuroscience Seminar Series as well as the Cell Motility and the Cytoskeleton SeminarSeries. Each week we also plan to hold a lunch time seminar arranged by the JUSTL Program Director, specifically for the JUSTL students, during which an MBL investigator will talk to the students about their particular research interest and expertise. On Friday afternoons, there will be a JUSTL group research and discussion meeting. At the first one, each student will give a brief overview of his or her research project, consisting of a statement of the question or problem being investigated and the techniques and model organism being used. Subsequent Friday meetings will be used for a variety of purposes. These might include holding discussions on topics such as, "How research is funded," "Preparing and submitting a scientific manuscript¡¨ and "Applying for a job in science." After the first week, the students and summer scientist mentors will settle into a routine, which includes frequent morning lectures with the remainder of the time being devoted to laboratory research and specialist techniques training. During the course of the JUSTL program, it is our aim to promote a productive interaction between the student, his/her home supervisor back in Hong Kong, and the MBL summer scientist mentor, that is of long-term benefit to the scientific education and development of JUSTL participants.
 

Eligibility:

In order to receive financial support from the Croucher Foundation, JUSTL participants must be citizens or permanent residents of the Hong Kong SAR. Applicants must be enrolled in a PhD program (part-time or full-time). Students who are transferring from one institution to another and are enrolled at neither institution during the intervening summer may also apply. Individuals who have already received their doctorate degrees are not eligible.
 
To apply:

The deadline for applications is January 6th, 2012. Applications will be evaluated after the January deadline. Following this, short-listed candidates will be interviewed, and successful applicants will be notified in the last week of January. At this time additional MBL registration and MBL housing application information will be provided to those applicants accepted in the Program. Suitable candidates will also be encouraged to apply for a place on one of the MBL summer courses (see section below).
Click here to access application and evaluation forms included in this website.
 
Selection of students:
Upon applying to the program, each student must submit the following:
  1. A statement of your goals (a one page description of your goals for the next three years related to your reasons for wanting to participate in the JUSTL program).
  2. A summary of your research experience.
  3. A statement of your expectations for the JUSTL program (what you anticipate this experience to be like and what you expect to gain from participating).
  4. Evaluations using the JUSTL Applicant Evaluation Form from two independent referees who are familiar with your academic and research background and goals, as well as one from your supervisor (thus, three evalutaions in total).
  5. Academic transcripts (copies of your undergraduate and postgraduate transcripts are required).
Applicants will be short-listed and invited to attend an interview (scheduled at HKUST at January 20th, 2012). Following this, the Program Director and the JUSTL Advisory Committee will use all the information gathered to determine which of the applicants are most likely to be successful in, and gain the most benefit from, this type of program. The most competitive applicants will be those who have completed at least one year of their higher degree program. Students will be selected based on their academic credentials, their reference letters, the overall quality of their application package and how they perform during the interview. If requested, selected students will be matched with JUSTL-associated MBL summer scientist mentors based on their area of research interest, previous experience, use of a particular marine model or the desire to learn a new research technique. It is expected that students¡¦ supervisors will actively participate in the selection of MBL summer scientist mentors in order to maximize the learning experience of JUSTL participants.
 
Acceptance and JUSTL Summer Scientist Mentor Assignments:

Notices of acceptance into the program will be sent to applicants in the last week of January. After individuals confirm their participation in the program, they will receive a schedule of orientation activities, as well as a roster of all MBL summer scientist mentor participants in the program (a list of current MBL summer scientist mentors is also provided on this website under section ¡§JUSTL Mentors¡¨). The JUSTL Program Director, in consultation with the student and her/his supervisor, will then make tentative assignments of each student to a MBL summer scientist mentor. Assignments will take into account any preferences for particular research areas that a student expresses in their application. A synopsis of the student's background will be sent to the proposed MBL summer scientist mentor for review and approval, and the mentor will be instructed to contact the student by e-mail and/or phone to provide the student with background information and materials to be read to prepare the student for their summer research project. It is also possible for students to participate in the JUSTL program without a MBL summer scientist mentor. Where this is the case, a student could work on their own project, using the MBL facilities, in the JUSTL summer laboratory. The JUSTL program is very flexible, as we plan to cater for each individual student¡¦s research and learning needs.
 

JUSTL Program and Participation in the MBL Summer Courses:

An agreement has been reached between the JUSTL program and the MBL where successful JUSTL candidates will also be able to apply in open competition for a place on the three major MBL summer courses. These are the following:

  1. Embryology: Concepts and Techniques in Modern Developmental Biology. (Course date: June 12th ¡V July 25th 2010).
  2. Physiology: Modern Cell Biology Using Microscopic, Biochemical and Computational Approaches. (Course date: June 12th ¡V August 1st 2010).
  3. Neurobiology: (Course date: June 5th ¡V August 8th 2010).
This agreement represents a wonderful opportunity for Hong Kong graduate students to participate in the MBL¡¦s world-renown summer courses. For JUSTL participants who are interested, we will assist in forwarding their applications on to the MBL summer course directors for consideration. If selected on one of the courses, individuals will be fully funded by the JUSTL program and guaranteed accommodation on the MBL campus. Please follow the links provided to seek further information regarding the MBL summer courses. As the MBL summer courses last 6 weeks, JUSTL program students participating on them will have around a week to prepare themselves in the JUSTL program lab at MBL before the beginning of the course, and following the course, have around a week to wind-down and assimilate the information they have accumulated. They will also be eligible to apply for a MBL Post-Course Fellowship to continue working on course related research projects until the end of the summer season. Acceptance on one of the MBL summer courses is not a requisite of participation in the JUSTL program (and vice versa). Furthermore, competition for places on these courses within the international scientific community is extremely high. We have planned the JUSTL program to provide a unique stand-alone learning and educational experience. Participation in one of the MBL summer courses, therefore, should thus be regarded as an exceptional additional benefit. In cases where JUSTL applicants are not accepted on one of the courses (or do not wish to take a course), they will still be able to attend the morning course lectures, and pursue their own research projects in either the JUSTL program lab or that of a MBL summer scientist mentor.
 
Financial support:

Selected JUSTL participants can expect a substantial degree of financial support for travel, accommodation and living expenses from funds provided to the JUSTL Program by the Croucher Foundation and the Government of the HKSAR. Students will, however, be encouraged to make some contribution towards the costs of participating in the JUSTL program, either via funds obtained from their own Universities/Schools/Departments, from their own supervisor's research support, or a personal contribution. Funds contributed from these sources will help to fund the daily running costs of the JUSTL.
   
MBL Housing:

Ebert Hall, MBL Student DormThe MBL maintains dormitory housing for summer students. The dormitories are on the MBL campus, next to Eel Pond in Woods Hole and a stone's throw from the ocean. The rooms are shared, and the JUSTL students will be assigned rooms together. The rooms are not luxurious, but you can't beat the setting! The MBL also has a number of summer houses that are also assigned to summer students. The summer houses are also located on the MBL campus and rooms are once again shared by summer students. Depending on how the MBL Housing Office assigns rooms during the summer season, JUSTL participants will be either located in the Ebert Hall dormitory or one of the MBL summer houses. Summer students assigned to MBL accommodation are required to join the MBL ¡§Meal Plan¡¨, where breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided in the Swope Cafeteria, located in the Swope Building. MBL accommodation and the accompanying meal plan will be provided for JUSTL participants.
 
Importance of applying for MBL Housing:
Summer housing in Woods Hole is always in great demand,and there is currently a shortage of all types. As a result, it is very difficult and expensive to find accommodation during the summer months of June, July and August. It is, therefore, essential that the JUSTL program selection procedure is completed before the MBL Housing Office opens its applications for MBL summer housing for the 2010 Season. In the past, the MBL Housing office begins to accept applications in the middle of February. We plan, therefore, to have selected our 6 JUSTL participants and prepared their MBL housing applications in plenty of time for submission.
 Veder House, MBL Student House
SWOPE Building, MBLSWOPE Dinning RoomSWOPE Servery
 

What to Bring:

Cape Cod in the summer has a very pleasant climate indeed. Hence its popularity as a summer vacation destination. Clothing brought with you should reflect this. Furthermore, the MBL is a very informal work environment, where the focus is on doing experiments! Thus, the most common attire worn around the MBL is T-shirts and shorts! A sweatshirt and light rain gear are also recommended. Also bring a beach towel (as the MBL has its own beach), alarm clock and a plug/power converter (the US uses 110 volts compared to Hong Kong¡¦s 240 volts). There are laundry facilities and refrigerators available in the dorms and student housing.
   
Finding your way to Woods Hole:

The JUSTL Program will also provide a substantial degree of travel support for successful applicants to cover the expense of getting to Woods Hole. Arriving by plane from Hong Kong, you should arrange to fly into Logan Airport in Boston, MA. There is a very convenient bus service that picks passengers up from the front of each of the terminals at Logan Airport and travels, with only a few stops, to Woods Hole. The bus service is provided by a company called Bonanza/Peter Pan Bus. Tickets can be purchased on the bus from the driver. Buses from Logan airport arrive in Woods Hole at the ¡§Martha¡¦s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority Terminal¡¨. This is the last stop on the route. From the Ferry Terminal to the MBL is only a short walk (click here). The MBL provides extensive information about traveling to Woods Hole and finding your way around the MBL campus to access this information click on "MBL Direction".

Bus Terminal Woods HoleSteamship Authority TerminalBus from Logan airport to Woods Hole
The bus schedule is available on the web at http://www.peterpanbus.com.
 
Applying for a US Visa:

Participants in the JUSTL Program will need to apply at the US Consulate in Hong Kong for a US Visa to travel to the USA. The JUSTL Program will provide documentation to support this application. It is also recommended that applicants should also provide documentary evidence that they are full-time PG students registered in a Program at a Hong Kong University (this should be obtained from your home university). They should also provide the US Consulate with a copy of their CV and a letter from their supervisor stating that they are a full-time PG student in his/her laboratory, and that on completion of the JUSTL Program you will return to Hong Kong to complete your PG studies.

For more information about applying for a US Visa, please see: http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov
   
For further information, please contact:

Dr. Andrew L. Miller.
JUSTL Program Director,
Department of Biology,
HKUST,
Clear Water Bay,
Kowloon,
Hong Kong SAR
E-mail: almiller@ust.hk
Phone: (852) 2358 8631
Fax: (852) 2358 1559

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