It is summer time, and in the southern part of heaven that means one thing: a new group of young, bright, and talented undergraduates have arrived at UNC-Chapel Hill to participate in the Biophysical Society’s Summer Program in Biophysics. I am Mike Jarstfer, Director of the Summer Program, and it is my pleasure to introduce this years participants. This year we welcome an excellent cohort of students from as far away as California and as near as Durham, NC. The 13 students participating in the program will face new challenges in the lab and classroom, develop professional skills associated with post graduate education, and have fun!  The students have matched with labs in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering,  Physics, Biology, Pharmacy, and Pharmacology!  So the breadth of their geographic origins is matched by the scientific interests of this excellent group. In addition to hard work in the laboratory, classroom, professional development exercises, and seminar series, the students will also have some fun.

The group will attend a baseball game at the famous Durham Bull’s stadium (the same one in the movie Bull Durham!) and take a weekend to visit a beautiful North Carolina beach. Midway through the summer, the students are also looking forward to meeting summer course alumni during our reunion weekend and developing long-lasting networks critical for success. These relationships will be further nurtured at the annual Biophysical Society Annual Meeting where we always host a dinner for the program alumni in attendance.

Everyone at UNC is excited to be working with this great group and I personally am looking forward to developing lifelong connections with each of them.

-Mike Jarstfer, Biophysical Society Summer Course Director