HWI is committed to training future scientific leaders –
and perhaps our next Nobel Laureate.

Education

Educational programs are offered for high school, and undergraduate students. Individual laboratories also offer graduate student projects for M.Sc. and Ph.D. level studies and post-doctoral research experiences. A brief outline of the different programs are given below with links to more specific details where available.

High School

The Duax High School Intern training program is a labor of love for Dr. Bill Duax, who has inspired countless students to share his love of scientific research. The students do real research on the historic evolution of proteins making use of sophisticated computational tools. They gather data, analyze their findings, and articulate what they have learned. While focused on structural biology, the program teaches collaborative research with teamwork and presentation skills within their team, within the program group, and finally a public presentation of results. The program provides a strong resume entry for future applications and skills for any interviews that may take place. To date, more than 250 students from 45 area high schools have participated. Details of the program are available on the High-School Programs page.

  • Tours and class events

Scientists at the institute are heavily engaged in work related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  At any other time, we are happy to provide short tours and speak about our research and will do so again as the pandemic is eliminated. We house a number of world-class facilities, run a large facility near Chicago for six of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and have had experiments flown on the International Space Station. We are also willing to visit classrooms to give a personal view of both our research and why we are so excited about what we do.

Undergraduate

University undergraduates have the opportunity to work with our scientists using state-of-the-art equipment in the fields of molecular biology, crystal growth, X-ray crystallography, other structural techniques, and computerized data analysis. This program allows students to decide if scientific research will be their passion and highlights exciting careers in Western New York and beyond. There are several routes available, one internal within the Institute, another that provides opportunities with collaborators nationally, and finally an opportunity with the University of Buffalo. The internships provide a stipend, and in several cases, students involved have managed to publish a research paper on that work significantly enhancing their career potential. Full details are provided on the Undergraduate Opportunities page.

Graduate

Part of the Institutes’ mission is education. Our scientists partner with many departments at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University at Buffalo to train graduate students in their Institute laboratories.  We work across many fields to provide students with interdisciplinary experiences and founded the Department of Structural Biology for the University of Buffalo.  Three of our graduate students on-site have received the School of Medicine and Biological Sciences Dean’s Award for outstanding dissertation work, this is awarded to only one graduate each year. Through our National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center we have cross-trained graduate students with collaborative opportunities at Stanford University, Arizona State University, and at DESY in Germany amongst others. Potential graduate students are encouraged to contact any of our scientists to discuss opportunities. Our Graduate Education page contains a list of past students with links to their current positions.

2019 Summer Interns at the Annual Poster Presentation

Postdoctoral

Each laboratory recruits its own postdoctoral researchers. More details are on the Postdoctoral Training webpage.