IGERT: Building Leadership Through a Program on Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices

这一综合性研究生教育研究培训(IGERT)项目旨在满足对工程生物活性接口和设备的跨学科研究生教育和研究培训计划的需求。工程化的生物活性接口和设备专注于与生物系统交互并促进所需响应的建筑的新颖设计。这些先进的体系结构有许多应用，从组织工程到传感系统，再到药物输送。这些系统的成功开发不仅取决于通过纳米技术、自组装和混合系统开发新型合成体系的专业知识，而且还取决于这些界面与细胞和蛋白质等生物系统的相互作用。今天用于生物应用的几乎所有材料都是那些最初设计用于非生物应用的材料，而没有考虑生物系统和合成界面之间的相互作用。对更先进的生物活性接口和特殊应用的需求已经增长，这些体系结构的成功开发需要生物科学和工程学科的整合。该IGERT奖项通过教育和培训在该领域工作的下一代工程师和科学家来满足这一需求。通过拟议的活动，学生参与者将进一步提高他们在主要学科的背景，并利用最先进的仪器和方法在生物科学和工程之间获得彻底的、跨学科的教育。通过外展活动和本科生的参与，这个IGERT项目将产生深远的影响。鼓励青年学生、教师和本科生在解决问题时弥合传统学科之间的差距。IGERT是一个NSF范围内的项目，旨在应对培养具有跨学科背景、所选学科的深厚知识以及满足未来职业需求所需的技术、专业和个人技能的美国博士科学家和工程师的挑战。该项目旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训新模式，在超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中，催化研究生教育的文化变革。

This Integrative Graduate Education Research Traineeship (IGERT) project addresses the need for a coherent interdisciplinary graduate education and research training program on Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices. Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices focuses on the novel design of architectures that interact with biological systems and promote a desired response. These advanced architectures have numerous applications ranging from tissue engineering, to sensing systems, to drug delivery. Successful development of these systems will depend on expertise not only in developing novel synthetic architectures through nanotechnology, self-assembly and hybrid systems but also on the interactions of these interfaces with biological systems such as cells and proteins. Nearly all materials used today in biological applications are those that were originally designed for non-biological applications without any consideration for the interactions between the biological system and the synthetic interface. The need for more advanced bioactive interfaces and for specialty applications has grown and successful development of these architectures requires the integration of the biological sciences and engineering disciplines. This IGERT award addresses this need by educating and training the next generation of engineers and scientists working in this area. Through the activities proposed, the student participants will further enhance their backgrounds in their primary disciplines and obtain a thorough, cross-disciplinary education at the interface of biological sciences and engineering using state-of-the-art instrumentation and methodologies. Through outreach activities and undergraduate participation, this IGERT program will have a far-reaching impact. Young students, teachers and undergraduates will be encouraged to bridge the gaps between traditional disciplines when solving problems. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.