MBL Education Celebrates a Successful Summer Season

Students from the Optical Microscopy (OMIBS) and Deep Learning 2023 Advanced Research Training Courses in a lecture in Speck Auditorium.

By Emily Greenhalgh August 30, 2023

Hundreds of students from 60 countries headed to Woods Hole this summer to take part in one of MBL’s celebrated Advanced Research Training Courses (ARTCs). The season kicked off on April 26, with the Analytical & Quantitative Light Microscopy (AQLM) Advanced Research Training Course and continued at breakneck pace all summer.

This summer, the MBL welcomed 449 students for 20 different courses covering everything from computational neuroscience to embryology to reproductive biology to microbial diversity. Students hailed from 270 different institutions around the world.

“With hundreds of students and visiting researchers on campus, this was an MBL summer for the books! It was amazing to see everyone from ARTC students to undergraduate researchers and visiting scientists all connecting together. We can't wait to continue that energy in 2024, ” said Linda Hyman, Burroughs Wellcome Director of Education.

Some Scenes from Summer at the MBL

Students from the 2023 Embryology course hunt for worms. Credit: Carrie Albertin — Students from the 2023 Embryology course hunt for worms on the MBL dock. Credit: Carrie Albertin

Schistosoma mansoni taken by MBL Biology of Parasitism students with help of Michael Shribak 2023 — This image of the parasitic worm *Schistosoma mansoni* was captured on a polychromatic polarizing microscope by students in the Biology of Parasitism course with the help of MBL’s Michael Shribak.

ARTC students in the Woods Hole 4th of July Parade — Students from the Neural Systems & Behavior (NS&B) Advanced Research Training Course take part in the 2023 Woods Hole 4th of July Parade.

ARTC students in the Woods Hole 4th of July Parade. Credit: Veronica Martinez Acosta — Students from the Summer Program in Neuroscience, Excellence and Success (SPINES) at the MBL take part in the Woods Hole 4th of July Parade. Credit: Veronica Martinez Acosta

The Embryology ARTC 2023 Softball team. Courtesy: Liz Legere — The Embryology Course 2023 Softball team. Courtesy: Liz Legere

The student poster session at the Embryology Course 130th Anniversary Symposium. Credit: Dee Sullivan

A 2023 Metcalf Fellow. Credit: Emily Greenhalgh — A Metcalf summer fellow from University of Chicago at a poster session. Credit: Emily Greenhalgh

The MBL offered two brand new Advanced Research Training Courses this year—Molecular and Cell Biology of Symbiosis and the Biology of Aging.

Students from the Deep Learning at MBL will be on campus until Sept. 5, and 40 students and two other ARTCs arrive on campus in October for the Frontiers in Stem Cells & Regeneration (SCARE) and Gene Regulatory Networks for Development (GERN) ARTCs.

In April, MBL Education celebrated 25 years of the Semester in Environmental Science (SES) and introduced the new undergraduate semester-long program— the Semester in Biological Discovery (SBD). And in June, the Embryology course celebrated 130 years of science with alumni from around the world.

Are you a student looking to come back to the MBL? If so, explore how to come back to the MBL for a job, programs or courses, research opportunities, conferences and more.

The 2024 ARTC schedule will be announced later this fall.

Learn more about the MBL's Advanced Research Training Courses