Designing Rigorous Experiments using Metacognition and Generative AI
Course description
Designing rigorous experiments requires deliberate thinking about the assumptions, alternative explanations, and the limitations of experimental systems. Yet, most researchers receive little formal training in how to structure their thinking about experimental design.
In this interactive, two-session nanocourse, participants will gain experience with the AiMS framework (Tan and Li, 2025), a structured metacognitive approach to experimental design that promotes scientific rigor by making reasoning explicit. The framework guides researchers through an iterative process of Awareness, Analysis, and Adaptation, as applied to experimental systems defined by their Models, Methods, and Measurements and evaluated along axes of Sensitivity, Specificity, and Stability. Through guided activities, participants will apply the framework to their own research questions (or provided case studies), identify potential technical pitfalls and sources of bias, consider alternative experimental approaches, and strengthen the logic underlying their experimental plans.
The course will also explore the emerging role of generative AI (GenAI) in research. Participants will learn practical strategies for using AI as a metacognitive partner—to challenge assumptions, uncover blind spots, and organize ideas—while maintaining human judgment, scientific integrity, and original intellectual contributions.
Course objectives
Upon completion of the nanocourse, participants will have:
1) Completed an AiMS worksheet tailored to their own research project (or a case study)
2) Gained a practical framework for improving experimental rigor
3) Developed strategies for integrating GenAI thoughtfully into experimental design and research proposal development
Session dates, times, and location
Tuesday, July 28 9am-12 pm
Thursday, July 30, 9am-12 pm
Warren Alpert Building 236
Milestone credit
To receive Milestone credit, you must attend both nanocourse sessions in their entirety and submit the final assignment.
Final assignment: Students will complete the AiMS framework for their own research project during the course, which they will submit along with a corresponding ½-page reflection on the process and their insights about the potential application of GenAI to the framework.
More information about Milestone Credit can be found here.
Course Team
Dr. Taralyn Tan
Assistant Dean for Educational Innovation and Scholarship, Office for Graduate Education; Lecturer on Neurobiology, taralyn_tan@hms.harvard.edu
Dr. Deepali Ravel
Director of Education, Harvard Graduate Program in Bacteriology and Infectious Diseases Consortium, deepali_ravel@hms.harvard.edu
Enrollment limit
This nanocourse will be capped at 25 participants and is open to all Harvard-affiliated students, research assistants, postdocs, and other early career scientists, including visiting students in the Morehouse School of Medicine BS/MS Program in Neuroscience. This course is offered as part of the Morehouse And Harvard Partnership In Neuroscience Growth (MAHPING) initiative and is co-hosted by the Harvard Infectious Diseases Consortium (IDC).
Registration & Deadline
Register here by Wednesday, July 22, 2026. We will email you by July 24, 2026 to confirm whether you have a spot in the course.