Why Us? Microbe Hackers can help you in your future regardless of your goals, be they policy, research, healthcare, or beyond! Join Microbe Hackers to dive into real research that explores how microbes evolve, mutate, and adapt — while gaining hands-on experience with cutting-edge lab techniques and data analysis. You’ll collaborate with passionate peers to uncover discoveries that contribute to solving real biological problems Skills/Competencies Gained During your time in Microbe Hackers you will learn skills such as: Basic laboratory techniques: Sterile technique Using micropipettes Bacterial growth and cultures Polymerase Chain Reaction Agarose gel electrophoresis Soft skills: Time management Collaboration/teamwork Oral presentations Synthetic biology techniques: Plasmid design in silico Cloning- Golden Gate Assembly DNA Transformations Compiling Research Skills: Presenting scientific data Oral presentations Poster presentations Lab Reports Students presenting their research at the 2025 Undergraduate Research Forum. Student Testimonials “As a freshman, being in Microbe Hackers taught me a lot of valuable skills early on. It has helped me succeed in outside research opportunities and also helped me improve my time management. Being a mentor is very rewarding, and I’ve made so many friends in my 3 years here too – it’s a great community!” – Kashvi Singh, Sp2023 “Microbe Hackers helped me feel confidence in my lab skills which I’ve applied to other research. I have loved getting the opportunity to mentor freshman. Lastly I’ve made some of my closest friends here!” – Megan Valle, Sp2023 “It’s a great lab to learn the fundamentals of synthetic biology. I really love how supportive and encouraging the mentors are. They have been through the course before and are always willing to help.” – Alexander Vatchev, Sp2025 “The mentors are really nice! I also met one of my closest friends working together on the Cyanobacteria project.” – Sarah Douah, Sp2025 MH4Life: Graduating Senior Mentors 2024
