Thesis Research

[Willowhand]

Hey all,

At my college it is standard to do a thesis project in the senior year. It can involve anything from conducting research to producing a play (I use these examples since I'm a Biology/Theatre major) and you spend the whole year working on it. I'm planning on applying to vet school either this cycle or the next, and one of the ideas I'm toying with for a thesis is research with a focus in vet med. I have a few potential topics in mind, but I am interested in hearing more ideas and suggestions before deciding so I thought I'd ask around here. Does anyone have any ideas for an interesting animal research project that might be feasible for an undergrad (i.e. I could finish it in a year and with a small budget)?

Thanks,
Willowhand

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[HeartSong]

Check out the interests of the professors at your university and see if any of them have interests that you like as well. Then approach them and ask if they'd like to be your advisor and assist in coming up with a topic. They'll be better able to help you determine if something can be done in a year, spark ideas and be able to help get whatever permission is needed to use live animals if they will be involved. I think getting a good advisor is an important aspect. I didn't like the one I choose after working with him for a while so it made the project much more aggravating than it should have been.

There really are endless possibilities of topics to chose from, but I always come up with ones that are way too complicated or expensive. I went in with a broad category topic (canine behavior) and brainstormed with the professor to get to the final topic (innate response of dogs to a pointing cue).

 

[TSUJC]

How is the project funded and who supervises the research? Animal research projects involve the use of an approved animal use protocol, do you know how those issues are addressed by your college?

 

[No Imagination]

The term "Small Budget" can mean so many things to so many people (we talking 3 - 7k, or 10 - 15k small?). Also, what kind of biology are you interested in?

Are you into Cellular Work, Ecology, Behavior, Genetics, Biochemistry, Molecular, Physiology.

That should be first - then like HeartSong said, go talk to any professors in your chosen discipline, see what they are up to.

Before you pick your project, you need to see what kind of lab you have to work in. No sense in planing on doing a bunch of westerns if you dont have the material/equipment to work with them.

Remember, you don't have to do any animal work to link it to veterinary medicine.

 

[WildZooVet]

I think the most important piece of advice that I got when designing my masters thesis was, "Don't try to solve a problem. Find a piece of information that is missing from your preliminary lit review (I was workinf with biomakers to detect osteoarthritis) and try to contribute one piece of information."

 

[nyanko]

I think the most important piece of advice that I got when designing my masters thesis was, "Don't try to solve a problem. Find a piece of information that is missing from your preliminary lit review (I was workinf with biomakers to detect osteoarthritis) and try to contribute one piece of information."

That's funny because for my MS thesis research I got "Find this gene!"

edit: On further consideration, that's what I got for my undergrad honors thesis too, but this time my PI actually expects me to find it.

 

[TSUJC]

I am with you nyanko, my PI said: "I want you to develop a DNA vaccine encoding these two genes and express / purify the recombinant proteins...oh yeah we are not sure of the entire genome sequence yet"!

 

[No Imagination]

"I want you to develop a DNA vaccine encoding these two genes and express / purify the recombinant proteins...

Huhh? DNA Vaccine? Did he perhaps mean Plasmid and/or vector system?

never heard it referred to as a DNA Vaccine. Only familiar with that term as in an actual vaccine - like in an animal to develop an immune response. Maybe a nomenclature im not aware of..?

 

[TSUJC]

Yes she meant a plamid DNA vaccination in which your gene of interest is incorporated into a plasmid vector and injected into your target animal. However, since only plasmid DNA is used for this type of vaccination, the term "DNA vaccine" and "plasmid DNA vaccine" are used interchangeably. The majority of the literature refers to them as DNA vaccines not plasmid DNA vaccines (it is assumed that you are using a plasmid).

Some groups also call this type of vaccine, a recombinant DNA vaccine (That is how I have it in my thesis).

 

[Willowhand]

Thank you all for the advice. I deliberately kept my description vague since I'm hoping to get all sorts of random suggestions -I like hearing specific ideas because even if it's way outside my budget, time, experience level, or interests, a suggestion will often bring to mind possibilities I hadn't thought of before. As to what my field of interest is, I'd love to hear suggestions of any kind but I'm particularly interested in behavior, physiology, and parasitology. So on second thought never mind of about whether it would be feasible -I'd really just enjoy hearing some of the things you have done or think would be interesting to try. Yay, brainstorming!

In terms of the budget, by "small" I meant in the $500 range -so I guess what I should have said was tiny! But I do have access to a lot of resources, including the school's labs, equipment, etc. which are very open to student research. I also worked in the wildlife department of a small museum which is also an AZA-accredited zoo, and since they are supportive of student research done by their "alums" there is a good chance I would be able to do things with the critters there. This would give me access to captive wildlife including skunks, otters, raptors, porcupine, reptiles, fish, a polar bear, and other animals. A captive wildlife enrichment study might be fun.

Another note: my college does not require that senior theses be original research, but I would prefer it to be.