Student Life

Life in MMSB

• Research Facilities
• Happy Hour/ Birthday Celebrations
• Annual Research Retreat

Research Facilities

The MMSB Department offers complete and state-of-the-art research facilities with equipment and expertise for genetic, biochemical, molecular, cellular, structural and biophysical investigation.  Within the department are facilities for cell culture, fermentation systems for high volume growth of bacteria and yeast, FPLC and HPLC, and a biophysics core facility which is equipped with a circular dichroism spectropolarimeter, an isothermal titration calorimeter, and multi-angle laser light scattering facilities.  Facilities are also available for confocal laser scanning microscopy and low-light-level imaging microscopy in the state-of-the-art Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling.  Additional facilities included electron microscopy, mass spectroscopy, DNA oligonucleotide synthesis and sequencing, microarray technology, and a transgenic mouse facility. Further information is available on this web site under the section on MMSB research facilities.

The department houses the UConn Health Center NMR Structural Biology Facility, which includes a 400-MHz NMR spectrometer and cryoprobe-equipped 500- and 600-MHz NMR spectrometers, as well as a circular dichroism spectropolarimeter, isothermal titration calorimeter, and multiangle laser light scattering facilities. An 800-MHz NMR spectrometer and X-ray crystallography facilities are planned for 2005–06. The department also houses the UConn Health Center Structural Biology Computational Facility, which includes a bank of Mac and Linux desk computers connected to ultrafast servers with the latest structural biology software.

Internet Access All laboratories have excellent Internet access to the relevant scientific journals. The majority of our courses provide online material. Many students are provided with a laptop to facilitate interaction and communication. The Computational Laboratory provides facilities for high-end molecular graphics, protein modeling, and more advanced types of data analysis.

Funds for Attending Meetings HCRAC Travel Grants

Happy Hour/ Birthday Celebrations

Individual labs take turns to host the monthly Happy Hour. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the free food and drink and the opportunity to interact with other students, postdocs and faculty.

Birthday parties for all members of the department are celebrated at a weekly party with birthday cake on friday afternoons.

Annual Research Retreat

Each year, the MMSB Department holds an off-campus Annual Research Retreat during which labs are given the opportunity to present their research work in the form of seminars and posters. The retreat is run as a mini-conference which provides an excellent opportunity for students to hone their skills in oral and poster presentations.

2005 MMSB Research Retreat

Life in UCHC

• The Health Center
• Health Center Location
• Graduate Student Organization

The Health Center

There are approximately 30 graduate students in the Molecular Biology and Biochemistry program. There are approximately 150 graduate students in Ph.D. programs on the Health Center campus, and the total enrollment is about 1,000. The institution has a strong commitment to graduate study within an environment that promotes social and intellectual interaction among the various educational programs.

The 200-acre Health Center campus at Farmington houses a division of the University of Connecticut Graduate School, as well as the School of Medicine and Dental Medicine. The campus also includes the John Dempsey Hospital, associated clinics, and extensive medical research facilities, all in a centralized facility with more than 1 million square feet of floor space. The Health Center's newest addition, the Academic Research Building, was opened in 1999. This impressive eleven-story structure provides 170,000 square feet of state-of-the-art laboratory space. The faculty at the center includes more than 260 full-time members.

Graduate students are represented on various administrative committees concerned with curricular affairs, and the Graduate Student Organization (GSO) represents graduate students' needs and concerns to the faculty and administration, in addition to fostering social contact among graduate students in the Health Center.

Health Center Location

The Health Center is located in the historic town of Farmington, Connecticut. Set in the beautiful New England countryside on a hill overlooking the Farmington Valley, it is close to ski areas, hiking trails, and facilities for boating, fishing, and swimming. Connecticut's capital city of Hartford, 7 miles east of Farmington, is the center of an urban region of approximately 800,000 people. The beaches of the Long Island Sound are about 50 minutes away to the south, and the beautiful Berkshires are a short drive to the northwest. New York City and Boston can be reached within 2½ hours by car.

Hartford is the home of the acclaimed Hartford Stage Company, TheatreWorks, the Hartford Symphony and Chamber orchestras, two ballet companies, an opera company, the Wadsworth Antheneum (the oldest public art museum in the nation), the Mark Twain house, the Hartford Civic Center, and many other interesting cultural and recreational facilities. The area is also home to several branches of the University of Connecticut, Trinity College, and the University of Hartford, which includes the Hartt School of Music.

Bradley International Airport (about 20 minutes from campus) serves the Hartford/Springfield area with frequent airline connections to major cities in this country and abroad. Frequent bus and rail service is also available from Hartford.

Graduate Student Organization

The Graduate Student Organization (GSO) is open to all graduate students studying at the University of Connecticut Health Center. The GSO represents graduate students' needs and concerns to the faculty and administration, in addition to fostering social contact among graduate students in the Health Center.