Structural Biology of Macromolecular Assemblies: A Research Training Group at Florida State University

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This award supports a new, multidisciplinary research training program focused on the structural biology of macromolecular assemblies. A group of 15 faculty drawn from the Departments of Biological Science, Chemistry and Physics have developed a comprehensive and challenging program to train undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students in a wide range of state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical approaches to structure and function. Research areas to be emphasized include study of filamentous macromolecular assemblies responsible for membrane structure and cell structure and motility. Participating undergraduate students from Florida State University and Florida A& M will gain research experience during the academic year and summer term. Graduate students will complete a required set of new courses in macromolecular assembly structure, dynamics, and computational optimization. Short, intense workshops will provide hands-on training in a variety of techniques, and there will be an annual symposium coupled with a program review by external experts. An unusual and important aspect of the training at both graduate and postdoctoral levels will be an emphasis on development of new methodology. Another is that trainees at all levels will be able to use the unique facilities of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, whose staff includes several of the participating faculty. The students trained through this program are expected to have a critical understanding of important biological phenomena of cellular structure and motility, and of the powerful new biophysical techniques needed to investigate them successfully.