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PJ Hansen Animal Sciences AMCB IFAS College of Vet Med University of Florida

ANS 6706

Research Project

The purpose of the research planning effort is to introduce students to the process of developing a research program.  A successful research program in environmental physiology involves identifying a key question in environmental physiology whose answer will improve our knowledge of biology or lead to enhancements in animal production efficiency or human health or performance.  A strong hypothesis underpins the question to be addressed and specific objectives to examine the hypothesis are formulated.  Moreover, each objective involves the completion of specific experiments that are realistic in scope and methodology and which yield clear answers that make achievement of the objective possible.  

 The process for developing a research plan in class will be as follows:

 1)       the class will be divided into three groups as follows:        

a.       Eduardo Avala, Izabella Thompson, Kathy Arriola

b.       Erin McKinniss, Rachel Boone, Jacob Bubolz

c.       Flavia Cooke,  Diane Tearney, Davi Brito de Araujo

2)       Each group will meet and develop a research plan that includes the following:

a.       An overall objective

b.       Specific objectives to address the aim

c.       Background information to support the idea for the objective

d.       Specific experiments for each objective with a description of hypotheses, design, methods, and how data will be interpreted

e.       Timeline for doing the experiment

f.         Budget

3)       The project should be three-years in scope with a maximum budget of $300,000; assume resources of the Dept. of Animal Sciences at the University of Florida are available

4)       The project can be on any area of environmental physiology using mammals or birds

5)       The grade will be subjective and based on the fundability of the final, revised project (i.e., is it an important area, is the hypothesis likely to be true, do the experiments test the hypothesis, are alternative ideas available if the hypothesis is not true, and can the investigators actually do what they say they are going to do). Written evaluations by the class will be one of the means by which the final grade is assigned.

6)       An example of the skeleton of a research project is available from the 2006 ANS 6706 website.  This project was of a greater scope than what will be developed this year but it gives you an idea.

7)       The format for development and presentation of the research project will be oral presentations in class.  At these presentations, each group will present their ideas and seek feedback from the class. 

8)       The schedule for oral presentations of the research project is as follows:

     April 3 - Initial Ideas on Overall Objective

April 10 –  focus mainly on the big picture – overall objectives but as time permits, also discuss specific experiments

 April 15 – Research project – include details specific experiments

April 17 – research project – include details of specific experiments

April 22 – research project – final version

April 24 - each student will submit a written evaluation of each proposal using a specific proposal evaluation form to PJH by email

Note about the schedule: I have been asked many times what I want to see prepared for each session.  The short answer is there is no specific presentation format.  Hopefully before the last class on April 22, you will have had time to have every aspect of  the grant scrutinized by the class.  However, some projects will get to this point quicker than others.  Before you can worry about specific experimental designs, you have to have a good idea for a grant - something novel, important, innovative, interesting, and with a high probability of succeess.  Once your main hypothesis has been formulated, you can worry about the best way to test that hypothesis - what specific experiments will get done.  Once you know the experiments, you can start worrying about details such as number of animals, techniques etc. You also need to keep it realistic - within the budget.