New six-course science program planned for next year's freshmen

Next year's freshmen will have a chance to experience the genomics center's integrative approach to science through a six-course, five-department experimental sequence.

The intensive program, which will combine material from first-year biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics, will provide an alternative to the current prerequisites for any of the five departments.

Students will take two courses each semester of their freshman year, followed by one course each semester of their sophomore year. This format is roughly modeled on HUM 216-219, the interdisciplinary four-course introduction to Western culture.

David Botstein, director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, conceived of the program to prepare students for the breakdown of disciplinary boundaries in science.

For example, biology is becoming more quantitative, he said, as scientists can now study all 35,000 genes in the human body at once instead of one or two at a time.

"You can't do it in your head anymore," Botstein said. "You need to use the tools of mathematics, computation and physics."

But the program, which will include traditional science lab sessions as well as computer ones, is not targeted just at future biologists.

"The graduates will go into all of the component fields, and they will have a better understanding of how to collaborate," he said. "And that is where the future of science lies."

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The sequence, which is being developed by faculty from several departments, will be completed this winter and reviewed by University administrators.

Next year's freshmen will have the chance this spring to enroll in the program, and Botstein hopes a group of 25 risk-takers will be up to the challenge. "There are no prerequisites, but it will be very demanding," he said.

Botstein does not anticipate a large group signing up this year, and he estimated that the program will not be able to accommodate more than 40.

Students with advanced standing will not be able to place out of courses in the sequence, however, and the sequence is not suitable for premeds because the courses will not correlate with requirements for medical school.

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To cover in six semesters what normally requires 10, the program will eliminate the repetition that occurs in introductory courses. Quantum mechanics and thermodynamics, which are normally taught in both introductory chemistry and physics, will be presented once in the context of both fields.

The sequence will also cut out historical components that are no longer relevant to modern research. "We shouldn't teach things we do by computers to you to do by hand," Botstein said.

The program has been noticed by scientists outside the Princeton community. At a recent meeting at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a Yale professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry mentioned the program to Princeton chemistry professor Michael Hecht.

The Yale professor said he wished he could enter Princeton as a freshman next year to participate in the program, said Hecht, who is helping develop the courses.

Hecht said the program will provide students with a better preparation for modern science.

"Research has gotten to the point where you cannot do it if you are constrained by disciplinary boundaries," said Hecht, who earned his Ph.D. in biology but is a chemistry professor with a joint affiliation in the molecular biology department.

"The intent here is to take that reality of scientific research and make it into the reality of scientific teaching," Hecht said.