Neuroscience UndergraduateWins Place at Prestigious Vienna Research Lab –Exchange Magazine
Publication: Exchange Magazine
Date: Thursday March 31st, 2011
Source: Exchange Magazine
Summary
Ottawa – Carleton student Bryan Luu is off to Vienna this summer for an amazing research opportunity.
Luu beat out 375 other applicants to win one of 25 coveted places at the Vienna Biocenter Summer School. This is the first time a Carleton student has been selected for this program which typically accepts applicants from ivy league schools such as Cambridge, Oxford, Columbia, Yale and MIT.
The fourth-year neuroscience student will be researching in the Busslinger lab (IMP – Research Institute of Molecular Pathology) studying the genes that are involved in signalling stem cells to differentiate into more specific cells that play important roles in our immune system.
Luu says the highlight of his Carleton University career has been working in Professor Ken Storey’s lab on his own research project. “Dr. Storey allowed me to work at my own pace, try new things and mold my own project. Graduate students or Dr. Storey were always there to guide me and answer my questions.” Storey is the Canada Research Chair in Molecular Physiology.
Adds Luu: “The research skills and techniques I learned and honed at Carleton have allowed me to be a competitive applicant in this scholarship and have prepared me to work in other fields of molecular biology. I can confidently say that the chances of getting a better research experience elsewhere in the country as an undergraduate student are slim.”
In his spare time, Luu is a senior mentor at Carleton Science Student Success Centre where he helps individual students and organizes workshops and social events like this year’s SSSC Faculty of Science ski trip. He is also a member of Carleton’s varsity rowing team and plays tennis. He attended Ajax High School.
The scholarship covers Luu’s accommodation, airfare and an additional 800 euros a month. Luu leaves June 1 for Europe and returns Aug. 31.