Renovation of the Biological Sciences Research Laboratories

美国国家科学基金会和曼哈顿学院将建立合作伙伴关系，通过改造植物形态发生实验室（PML）来振兴该机构的研究基础设施。PML建于1963年，反映了学生参与教师研究项目的重要性，这是自50年代初以来生物学本科课程中不可或缺的角色。该设施满足了教职员工和学生的需求，但明显存在老化、陈旧和越来越难以支持科学研究的迹象。照明很差，管道有问题，实验室工作台已经变质，通风柜已经达到了其有效性的终点。来自学术研究基础设施计划的资金将纠正需要建立一个全面的本科研究设施的不足，该设施能够支持广泛主题的研究，包括：细胞生物学、分子生物学、微生物学、病毒学、植物生理学和环境生物学。被公认为培养美国科学家的全国领先研究型学院之一，该项目将促进曼哈顿学院努力保持本科生物研究项目的卓越性，响应不断变化的教师研究重点，并为越来越多有兴趣将科学作为职业的学生提供研究机会。由于该机构位于城市环境中，该项目的完成将使该机构能够吸引大量未被充分代表的少数民族学生学习科学，从而有助于为21世纪创建一个多元化的科学企业。

The National Science Foundation and Manhattan College will establish a partnership to revitalize the institution's research infrastructure by renovating the Plant Morphogenesis Laboratory (PML). Constructed in 1963, the PML reflects the importance of student participation in faculty research programs, an integral role of the undergraduate curriculum in biology since the early fifties. The facility has served the needs of both faculty and students, but signs of age, obsolescence, and an increased difficulty to support scientific investigations are evident. Lighting is poor, plumbing is problematic, laboratory benches have deteriorated, and fume hoods have reached the end of their effectiveness. Funding from the Academic Research Infrastructure Program will correct deficiencies needed to create a comprehensive undergraduate research facility capable of supporting investigations on a wide array of topics including: cell biology, molecular biology, microbiology, virology, plant physiology and environmental biology. Having been recognized as one of the nation's leading research colleges educating US scientists, this project will facilitate Manhattan College in its endeavor to maintain excellence in undergraduate biological research programs, respond to changing priorities of faculty research, and provide research opportunities to a growing number of students interested in pursing science as a career. Since the institution is located in an urban environment, completion of this project will enable the institution to attract a significant number of under-represented minority students in science, thus aiding to create a diverse scientific enterprise for the 21st century.