UBM-Group: Undergraduate Biology and Mathematics Training Program at NJIT

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The Group Undergraduate Biology and Mathematics Training Program(G-UBMTP) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will provide long-term research experience for undergraduate students majoring in Mathematics and Biology, taking advantage of the unique strong ties between the Departments of Mathematics and Biology at NJIT, and building upon the achievements and curricular modifications of the preceding NSF-funded Institutional UBM program. The goal of this Project is to continue the training of students skilled in the combined application of experimental and quantitative techniques. The proposal aims to train 6 students per year, broken into three groups, with joint mentoring of each 2-student group by a pair of faculty from the Department of Mathematical Sciences (NJIT) and the Federated Department of Biological Sciences (NJIT/Rutgers-Newark). The program will start in the spring semester, with students taking the required Introduction to Mathematical Biology course, fulfilling other academic requirements, and starting rotations through the laboratories of investigators involved in this Project, while attending weekly group meetings and seminars. The trainees will spend 9 weeks of the following summer working on the chosen research project, which will continue in the Fall Semester. Special emphasis will be made on the development of written and oral communication skills, with students required to make regular presentations at weekly group meetings. Students will write a final report of research results and findings, in a publishable format. The proposed research projects cover a diverse set of Mathematical Biology areas, focusing on different topics in Neuroscience, Ecology or Cell Biology, and will be guided by 11 investigators from the Departments of Biology and Mathematics, with an additional pool of Mathematics and Biology investigators with interdisciplinary experience ready to participate if need arises.The main aim of the proposed Training Program is to provide an opportunity for NJIT undergraduate students to participate in a variety of interdisciplinary research projects combining Biology and Mathematics and to prepare the students to pursue graduate studies or industrial scientific research in the increasingly interdisciplinary fields of Cell Biology, Neuroscience and Ecology. To accomplish this goal, this project will combine the resources and strengths of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at NJIT and the Federated Department of Biological Sciences (NJIT/Rutgers-Newark). The involvement of these two Departments will further increase the collaboration between investigators working within different academic disciplines, leading to new research projects, and potentially resulting in new findings and discoveries. As a teaching and research institution, NJIT is particularly well positioned to achieve these goals, due to historically strong interdisciplinary links between the Departments of Mathematics and Biology. In fact, several leading investigators involved in this project hold or have held dual appointments in the Departments of Mathematical and Biological Sciences. The successful outcome of this proposal may also serve as a catalyst for increased interdisciplinary collaborations at other institutions. Further, this Project will broaden the training of groups underrepresented in science, since NJIT has one of the highest proportions of students from underrepresented groups and minorities in the country. The proposed Training Program will also increase the involvement of women in research, as about 40% of the participants of the preceding Institutional UBM program at NJIT were women. The recruitment of women and minority students will remain one of the priorities for this Project. Finally, the broad dissemination of the results of the student research projects is an integral part of this proposal, and a special emphasis will be made on the training of oral and written presentation skills of the trainees, which are indispensable for the future career of a scientist and for the successful communication of research results to a larger community.