IGERT: A New Pathway for Multi-Disciplinary Graduate Education in Optical Molecular Bio-engineering

这一综合性教育与研究培训(IGERT)奖将支持建立一个多学科的光学生物分子工程(OBE)研究生培训计划，该计划融合了光学工程、生物化学和分子生物学等更传统的领域。这项活动是由来自植物学、化学、化学工程、电气和计算机工程、机械工程、物理和动物学系的14名科学家和工程师共同努力的。这群科学家和工程师通过德克萨斯大学现有的分子生物学和生物医学工程研究生项目建立了研究合作关系，并进行了广泛的互动。他们的集体专长将为在该奖项的五年任期内培训一支由大约70名研究生组成的多样化干部提供智力基础。OBE中的这项IGERT活动利用了光学技术的最新进展，这些技术能够以纳米级分辨率动态可视化和操纵单个细胞和组织内的过程。该计划的重要特点包括通过研究实习和研讨会让博士生广泛接触该领域；在多名导师的指导下进行跨学科的博士研究；以及提供设计和使用组织和细胞可视化和操纵光学仪器所需的多学科视角的新课程。IGERT是一个新的NSF范围内的项目，旨在促进创新的、以研究为基础的研究生项目的建立，这些项目将培训不同的科学家和工程师群体，为充分利用广泛的职业选择做好准备。IGERT为博士机构提供了一个机会，以开发新的、重点明确的、超越组织边界的多学科研究生课程，并团结来自几个系或机构的教师，为培训和研究建立一个高度互动、协作的环境。在该计划的第一年，将为17个机构提供支持，这些机构的新项目或新生项目共同涵盖了NSF支持的所有科学和工程领域。

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award will support the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program in Optical Bio-Molecular Engineering (OBE) that melds the more traditional areas of optical engineering, biological chemistry, and molecular biology. This activity is a joint effort of fourteen scientists and engineers from the Departments of Botany, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, and Zoology. This group of scientists and engineers has established research collaborations and has interacted extensively through the existing Graduate Programs in Molecular Biology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas. Their collective expertise will provide the intellectual underpinning for the training of a diverse cadre of some seventy graduate students over the five-year tenure of the award. This IGERT activity in OBE draws upon recent advances in optical technologies that enable dynamic visualization and manipulation of processes within single cells and tissues with nanoscale resolution. Important features of the program include broad exposure of doctoral students to the field through research internships and seminars; interdisciplinary doctoral research guided by multiple mentors; and new courses that provide the multidisciplinary perspective necessary for the design and use of optical instrumentation for visualization and manipulation of tissues and cells. IGERT is a new, NSF-wide program intended to facilitate the establishment of innovative, research-based graduate programs that will train a diverse group of scientists and engineers to be well-prepared to take advantage of a broad spectrum of career options. IGERT provides doctoral institutions with an opportunity to develop new, well-focussed multidisciplinary graduate programs that transcend organizational boundaries and unite faculty from several departments or institutions to establish a highly interactive, collaborative environment for both training and research. In this first year of the program, support will be provided to seventeen institutions for new or nascent programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF.