Our majors get hands-on research experience in PMY 409 (Experimental Pharmacology), a requirement for the BS. We also offer lab research experience to majors and interested non-majors with appropriate backgrounds via PMY 498 (Undergraduate Research Participation in Pharmacology and Toxicology).

Many of our faculty work with students from universitywide programs, including:

• Center for Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities (CURCA)
  
• Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP)

As a student researcher, you will work in our labs at the cutting edge of pharmacology and toxicology research to gain insight and expertise on every part of the research process. You will take on a focused project and, under a mentor’s guidance, build on the skills and concepts from your coursework to generate independent, high-quality data.

We encourage our students to make significant intellectual contributions to their labs. Many of our students stay with a lab two to three years, carrying out longer-term projects and getting their names on publications in prominent journals. This makes your CV very competitive for applications to graduate school, MD and PharmD programs, and other pursuits.

Very often, students produce posters based on their research. You may present your work at the Upstate New York Pharmacology Society Annual Meeting and at the university’s Celebration of Academic Excellence, where our students not only consistently present but win prestigious awards.

The student with the best poster at the Upstate New York Pharmacology Society Annual Meeting wins an all-expenses-paid trip to present at the annual meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics or Society of Toxicology.

Participating in lab meetings gives you insight into life in a research lab and connects you to fellow researchers, from other undergraduates through senior faculty members. In your lab you can gain a wide range of skills in techniques and data analysis, including:

• high-performance liquid chromatography
• mass spectrometry
• nuclear magnetic resonance
• microscopy
• protein analysis
• receptor binding
• behavioral analysis
• statistical analysis
• research ethics

Our searchable faculty profiles describe faculty research interests and ongoing projects:

This 8-10 week program gives you a chance to perform mentored research in the biosciences and explore graduate careers.

Every fall semester, our faculty brief majors about the undergraduate curriculum and research opportunities for the coming academic year.

This student-run group hosts faculty presentations throughout the year.

Although we have no formal prerequisites, our research opportunities are selective. Faculty prefer students with some knowledge in fields such as medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry and statistics, but previous lab experience is not necessary. Course credit requires you to work three hours per week in the lab for every hour of credit you earn—so a three-hour class means making a commitment of nine hours per week.

Fill out our application and attach a CV and a description of your interest in research. Specify any topics you especially want to pursue or any faculty with whom you want to work.

Once we review your application, you will meet with Rajendram Rajnarayanan, PhD, director of undergraduate research and summer programs, and discuss how research in our labs fits with your long-term goals and your commitment to academic success. If you’re accepted, he will match you with a suitable lab.

You may take PMY 498 for three credit hours per semester and repeat it for a total of nine hours. Non-majors may earn course credit via independent study in our department or their home department, or make other arrangements.

Once you have been matched with an instructor for undergraduate research, please complete this form and return it to our office: