MCDB 199A-D

MCDB 199A-D – Directed Research in MCDB

Overview

Students conducting ongoing, individual research under the guidance of an MCDB-approved faculty mentor may enroll in MCDB 199A-D (maximum one course per quarter / four units per quarter / letter grading).

Students must be working on a culminating research project, designed to broaden and deepen their knowledge of some aspect of molecular, cell, and developmental biology. Although familiarity with the scientific literature is essential to research, students must be conducting experimental laboratory research. A literature search, literature evaluation, or survey work is not sufficient to enroll in MCDB 199A-D. Students are expected to commit a minimum of 12 hours per week, to their research project.

Check out the MCDB 199A-D Syllabus for more information.

Eligibility Requirements

At the time of enrollment, students must…

• Be in the Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology major;
• Be in their junior/senior year;
• Have a minimum 3.0 overall GPA and upper-division major GPA;
• Have completed LIFESCI 7A, 7B, 7C, 7L, and 107;
• Not be working for pay in their faculty mentor’s lab;
• Be working with a faculty mentor who is included on the MCDB-Approved List of Faculty Research Mentors.*

* If a student is working with a faculty mentor who is NOT included on the MCDB-Approved List of Faculty Research Mentors, they may petition their research in order to enroll in an upper-division MCDB research course. More information about the petition process can be found here.

Enrollment Policies

• To begin the series, students must commit to at least two consecutive quarters of research (MCDB 199A-B). Students must enroll in MCDB 199A, followed by MCDB 199B the next quarter. Enrollment in MCDB 199C and 199D are optional.
• Students are permitted to enroll in MCDB 199A in Fall and Winter quarter only. Students may not enroll in MCDB 199A-D in Summer Sessions.
• Students will not be permitted to enroll in MCDB 199A-D if they have outstanding Incomplete or NR grades in previous upper-division research courses with the same faculty mentor.
• Students are permitted to enroll in a maximum of one upper-division MCDB research course per quarter.
• Students are not permitted to enroll in an upper-division MCDB research course and another SRP-99 or SRP-199 course under the same faculty research mentor in the same quarter.

Enrollment

Please review below the list of materials required to enroll in each upper-division MCDB research course.

MCDB 199A

To enroll in MCDB 199A, you will need the following:

1. MCD BIO 199A Course Contract – Must be signed by your faculty mentor. You do NOT need the Chair’s signature.
2. Project Proposal – Must follow proposal guidelines and be signed by you and your faculty mentor.
3. Outside Faculty Mentor Agreement* – Signed by your faculty mentor.

* If your faculty mentor is NOT listed as an MCDB faculty member on our Faculty webpage, then you must submit the Outside Faculty Mentor Agreement.

MCDB 199B

To enroll in MCDB 199B, you will need the following:

1. MCD BIO 199B Course Contract – Must be signed by your faculty mentor. You do NOT need the Chair’s signature.

MCDB 199C

To enroll in MCDB 199C, you will need the following:

1. MCD BIO 199C Course Contract – Must be signed by your faculty mentor. You do NOT need the Chair’s signature.
2. Project Proposal – Must follow proposal guidelines and be signed by you and your faculty mentor.

MCDB 199D

To enroll in MCDB 199D you will need the following:

1. MCD BIO 199D Course Contract – Must be signed by your faculty mentor. You do NOT need the Chair’s signature.
2. Project Proposal – Must follow proposal guidelines and be signed by you and your faculty mentor.

Check out the following webpages to learn how to:

• Create a contract
• Prepare a project proposal

Ready to Submit?

Please submit the required materials to this form for enrollment: https://sa.ucla.edu/forms/p/mcdbresearch

The deadline to submit all materials is 5:00 PM on Monday of Week 2 of the quarter you wish to enroll. You will be enrolled by the end of the day on Friday of Week 2.

Note: You must submit the form each quarter you wish to enroll in an upper-division MCDB research course.

Assignments

For each quarter enrolled in MCDB 199A-D, students must report on their research progress by completing a final paper that will be submitted to and graded by the faculty research mentor. Students will also submit a copy of the final paper, signed by their faculty mentor, to the MCDB Department via Bruin Learn by 5:00 PM on Friday of Week 10.

Final Paper Guidelines

The final paper must be written by the student (with guidance from the faculty research mentor) and outline the student’s own experiments. A copy of a multi-authored publication or paper submitted for publication will not be accepted in place of a final paper.

Please fill out and attach this Title Page as the first page of your final paper.

The final paper should be in the format of a journal article. Although the format can vary slightly, the paper should contain the following information:

• Title
• Author(s)
• Summary (Abstract)
• Introduction
• Results
• Discussion
• Experimental Procedures (Methods)
• Acknowledgements
• References
• Figures and Figure Legends
• Tables and Table Legends (if applicable)

The final paper should be long enough to capture and describe well the required information, at least 10-15 pages in length (double-spaced) (including figures and references).

Course-Specific Guidelines

MCDB 199A

The MCDB 199A final paper should include at least the introduction, experimental procedures, and references. Please include preliminary results, if possible.

MCDB 199B

The MCDB 199B final paper should include a thorough summary, including how your project has changed from the first quarter, refined introduction and experimental procedures, preliminary results and analysis (if analysis is possible at this point), and references.

MCDB 199C or 199D

The MCDB 199C or 199D final paper is a continuation of your MCDB 199B paper.*

*If you are enrolled in MCDB 199C in Spring quarter following completion of MCDB 196A-B, then your MCDB 199C final paper should include a thorough summary, including how your project has changed from the previous quarter, introduction and experimental procedures, results and analysis (assuming analysis is possible at this point), and references.

*If you received permission to enroll in MCDB 199C (without having previously completed MCDB 199A-B) in Fall quarter prior to applying for the Winter/Spring offering of MCDB 196A-B, then your MCDB 199C final paper should include at least the introduction, experimental procedures, and references. Please include preliminary results, if possible.

Submitting your Final Paper

Please follow the steps below to submit your final paper to your faculty mentor and the MCDB department.

1. Draft your final paper with the guidance of your faculty mentor, as needed.
2. Ensure that your faculty mentor reviews your final paper before submission. Ask your faculty mentor to sign your final paper to confirm they have reviewed it. 
3. Submit your final paper, signed by your faculty mentor, to Bruin Learn by 5:00 PM on Friday of Week 10.

Final Paper Submission Deadline

5:00 PM on Friday of Week 10

Grading

Your faculty research mentor will assign a letter grade for MCDB 199A-D. Unit and grade credit for MCDB 199A-B are assigned upon completion of MCDB 199B. Please be aware that the transcript will always show an IP (In Progress) grade for MCDB 199A, but eight units and the final grade are assigned for MCDB 199B. Unit and grade credit are assigned for MCDB 199C and 199D separately.

Grading will be based on successful participation in individual meetings, completion of required assignments, and specific research deliverables defined per project. Specific grading criteria and expectations vary and should be discussed with the faculty mentor before the student begins research. The student and mentor should establish clear grading criteria and a work schedule before the quarter begins to ensure:

• Both parties have a shared understanding of expectations.
• There’s clarity on when the student should be in the lab.
• Both agree on what constitutes a successful quarter.

MCDB 199A-D FAQ

General

Final Paper

Grading