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

新泽西理工学院(NJIT)的团体本科生物和数学培训计划(G-UBMTP)将为数学和生物专业的本科生提供长期的研究经验，利用NJIT数学系和生物系之间独特的紧密联系，并建立在之前NSF资助的院校UBM计划的成就和课程修改的基础上。该项目的目标是继续培训学生综合运用实验技术和定量技术。该提案旨在每年培训6名学生，分为三个小组，由来自数学科学系(NJIT)和联邦生物科学系(NJIT/罗格斯-纽瓦克)的一对教员共同指导每个两名学生小组。该计划将在春季学期开始，学生们将学习必要的数学生物学入门课程，完成其他学术要求，并开始在参与该项目的研究人员的实验室中轮换，同时参加每周的小组会议和研讨会。受训者将在接下来的夏天花9周的时间研究选定的研究项目，并将在秋季学期继续进行。课程将特别强调书面和口头沟通能力的发展，要求学生定期在每周的小组会议上做报告。学生将以可出版的格式撰写一份研究结果和发现的最终报告。拟议的研究项目涵盖了一系列不同的数学生物学领域，侧重于神经科学、生态学或细胞生物学的不同主题，并将由来自生物和数学系的11名研究人员指导，另外还将有一批具有跨学科经验的数学和生物研究人员随时准备参与。拟议培训计划的主要目的是为NJIT本科生提供参与各种结合生物学和数学的跨学科研究项目的机会，并为学生在细胞生物学、神经科学和生态学等日益跨学科的领域继续研究生学习或工业科学研究做准备。为了实现这一目标，该项目将结合NJIT数学科学系和联邦生物科学系(NJIT/罗格斯-纽瓦克)的资源和优势。这两个部门的参与将进一步加强在不同学科工作的研究人员之间的合作，导致新的研究项目，并可能导致新的发现和发现。作为一家教学和研究机构，NJIT特别适合实现这些目标，因为数学系和生物系之间有着历史上强大的跨学科联系。事实上，参与该项目的几位主要研究人员在数学系和生物科学系担任或曾经担任过双重任命。这一提议的成功结果也可能成为其他机构加强跨学科合作的催化剂。此外，该项目将扩大对科学界代表性不足群体的培训，因为NJIT拥有全国代表性不足群体和少数民族学生比例最高的学生之一。拟议的培训方案还将增加妇女参与研究，因为NJIT以前的机构UBM方案的参与者中约有40%是妇女。招募妇女和少数族裔学生仍将是该项目的优先事项之一。最后，广泛传播学生研究项目的结果是这项建议的组成部分，将特别强调培训学员的口头和书面陈述技能，这对于科学家未来的职业生涯和向更大的社区成功传播研究成果是不可或缺的。

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.