AcademicsSample Plan Application Entries

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Plan Objectives & Projects in the Natural Sciences

MATHEMATICS & PHYSICS

Preliminary: An exploration of advanced mathematical topics.
Final (Mathematics): An exploration of the sciences and math with a focus on math.
Project: Two papers on different mathematical topics.

BIOLOGY/Genetics, Evolutionary Biology

Preliminary: A study of genetics and evolutionary biology with a focus on the evolution of the conscious mind.

BIOLOGY/Ecology

Preliminary: To gain a broad background in the natural sciences with a concentration on plant ecology. Within this concentration a focus would be placed on plant diseases, with particular emphasis on the American chestnut blight and the reintroduction of the tree to its natural range.

COMPUTER SCIENCE/Network Security

Preliminary: To gain a strong background in the natural sciences and number theory in order to study the paradigms and implementations of computer network security.

BIOLOGY/Ethics

Preliminary: A study of animal consciousness, cognition, and behavior. The ethical implications of sentience.

Final: An exploration of veterinary medicine, focusing on aberrant nitrogen metabolism and associated ethical concerns. A study of animal and cellular biology and associated ethical issues.
Project: A set of papers investigating specific disorders of nitrogen metabolism presented in conjunction with a set of ethical position papers. (Fellowship at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute; veterinary technician experience at local vet clinic.

BIOCHEMISTRY

Preliminary: An overview of the biomedical uses of phages with a minor anthropological study of the cultural concepts behind viruses and infectious disease in Latin America. I would like to research the use of phages in place of antibiotics as well as the role of phages in infectious disease. I also want to look at the cultural concepts behind diagnosis and treatment of viruses and infectious disease in Latin America and culminate my research with field work in Latin America.

Final: A study of the bacteriophage life cycle with a focus on using bacteriophages in humans as an alternative to antibiotics.
Project: A paper examining the process and history behind developing phages as a treatment for bacterial infections in humans. A research paper describing a laboratory project on the potential for using phages as a treatment for tuberculosis. (An internship during the summer of 2001 at the Hatfull Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. Participation in a project examining the development of phages as a treatment for tuberculosis.)