Synthesis and validation of a metal-organic framework able to quench DNA fluorescence

Access to practical research experience is typically limited for life science undergraduates at UK universities. This is confounded by a lack of time to pursue research given course commitments, and the competition for limited spaces on internships or other schemes. To overcome these issues, we hypothesised methods to increase students independent access to research, allowing them to design and undertake useful experiments from first principles. Here, we describe the methods allowing a group of undergraduates to successfully devise and completed a research project independent from their university and academic functions.