REU Site: Regenerative Medicine Multi-Scale Bioengineering & Systems Biology

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The intellectual merit of this three year REU Site program at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) will be the generation of new bioengineering knowledge and devices through undergraduate research experiences. This program will give REU participants access to state-of-the-art facilities, the opportunity to work with accomplished faculty mentors, and to participate in highly collaborative, cutting-edge research projects. In addition to the training participants receive in the individual laboratories, extensive professional development opportunities will be provided through weekly research skills workshops, an undergraduate research conference, a REU journal club, and GRE preparation courses. All REU participants will also be given the opportunity to present their research at the annual meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society.The broader impact of the work will be several-fold. There will be direct development of human resources in science and engineering through the education of a diverse population of undergraduate students. Recruitment efforts will be nationwide and will leverage past success recruiting students from non-Ph.D. granting institutions where research opportunities are limited. Participants will also be recruited from California community colleges with the goal of hosting two community college students each year. By working together on recruitment efforts, this program will establish a new educational partnership between UCSD Bioengineering and MiraCosta Community College. REU projects will be a component of larger, collaborative projects. As such, REU participants will work closely with graduate students or postdoctoral researchers. These researchers will participate in a mentoring workshop to help improve their mentoring skills. Together with the planned community building activities, this will make the REU program a positive and memorable experience, encouraging REU participants to pursue further training. There will also be future benefit to countless others whom the graduate student and postdoctoral mentors train throughout their careers.