Applications for the 2026 RET are now open and will close March 31, 2026! Please log in to the website to complete your application.

Does the idea of gaining research experience in university labs sound exciting to you? The Baxter Center for Science Education's (BCSE's) Research Experience for Teachers (RET) is a 2-week paid program that gives local teachers the opportunity to participate in a "tasting menu" of experiments, primarily with researchers from Northwestern University's Center for Synthetic Biology (CSB), and develop related experiences to bring back to their classrooms. (Check out a story about the 2024 RET here!) Teachers in the RET will also have opportunities to come back together twice during the 2026-27 school year to reconnect and share classroom applications.

Synthetic biology uses tools and concepts from many disciplines, such as chemistry, engineering, and computer science, to build new biological systems that address important challenges. These biological systems are built from molecules like DNA, RNA, and proteins and make use of naturally occurring cellular and molecular processes. By repurposing such molecules and processes toward new ends, synthetic biology is advancing solutions in health, sustainability, and other areas.

Experiments and techniques have included:

• Cell-free protein synthesis
• DNA manipulation/cloning
• Biobits/CRISPR
• Biosensors
• Biobits pilot for water contaminants

Applications for the 2026 RET are now open! All middle and high school teachers who support students in Cook or Lake County science classrooms are welcome to apply! We will seek a balanced cohort of 8 teachers from across the region, and priority will be given to teachers who a) have not participated in an RET before, b) can attend all 10 days of the summer RET, and c) work at schools that serve under-resourced communities as demonstrated by a high percentage of low-income students. (But if you have participated in and love RETs, or work at a school that doesn't quite fit the parameters above, please don't hesitate to apply!)

Applications will close March 31, 2026 and are reviewed by BCSE and CSB staff with an eye toward the criteria described above. We will aim to notify applicants of decisions in the first half of April!