REU Site: A Multidisciplinary Research Experience in Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices

REU 网站：工程生物活性界面和设备的多学科研究经验

• 批准号: 1156667
• 负责人: Kimberly Anderson
• 金额: $ 39.85万
• 依托单位: University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-05-01 至 2015-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1156667&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Multidisciplinary; Research; Experience

The three year REU Site award at the University of Kentucky is focused in the area of Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices. The overall objective of this project is to provide a novel multidisciplinary research and education experience for rising junior and senior undergraduates in this research area. The University of Kentucky also has a National Science Foundation IGERT program in this area, and therefore, the REU students will not only have the opportunity to interact with REU faculty but will also interact with IGERT graduate trainees through research, special seminars, and other technical and social activities. Specific objectives of the program include the following: 1) providing the students with true interdisciplinary mentoring and research training through their participation in a research project related to Engineered Bioactive Interfaces and Devices, 2) stimulating the students interests in Ph.D. careers in science and engineering through seminars, field trips, and interactions with both graduate students and faculty, and 3) developing the students independence and confidence through participation in research, journal clubs, in house presentations and scientific meetings.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 and 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. This REU program will introduce students early on to this exciting multidisciplinary area and will encourage them to pursue this or similar areas for graduate studies. As part of the REU program, the undergraduate students will have the opportunity to learn about three cross-disciplinary research themes that form the foundation of the research in this area. They include: 1) Novel Bioactive Architectures, 2) Cell/Protein Interactions at Interfaces, and 3) Integration into Devices.Students will be recruited from various undergraduate disciplines including engineering, biology, chemistry and physics. Surrounding the University of Kentucky are numerous regional colleges and universities that have no graduate programs in these areas. Recruitment at these institutions will encourage students that may not otherwise pursue an advanced degree. In addition, we will recruit at a number of national institutions that do not have graduate programs. Special efforts will be made to attract women and minorities to this program by recruiting at minority institutions such as University of Puerto Rico and Tuskegee University and publicizing the program at national meetings of minority and women organizations such as the Society of Women Engineers and the National Society of Black Engineers. Students accepted into the program will work closely with faculty and IGERT graduate students who are currently engaged in collaborative, cross-disciplinary research. The faculty participants have existing research collaborations that include joint student supervision, grant funding and publications. The proposed REU program builds on these successful collaborations and integrates them with other educational components, such as seminars, workshops, and other technical and social activities. The students will be exposed to the excitement of interdisciplinary research and by the end of the program will have an excellent knowledge of what is involved in graduate research.

肯塔基州大学为期三年的REU研究中心奖专注于工程生物活性界面和设备领域。 本项目的总体目标是提供一个新的多学科的研究和教育经验，在这一研究领域的上升初级和高级本科生。肯塔基州的大学也有一个国家科学基金会IGERT计划在这方面，因此，REU学生不仅有机会与REU教师互动，但也将通过研究，特别研讨会和其他技术和社会活动与IGERT研究生学员互动。该计划的具体目标包括：1）通过参与与工程生物活性界面和设备相关的研究项目，为学生提供真正的跨学科指导和研究培训，2）激发学生对博士学位的兴趣。通过研讨会、实地考察以及与研究生和教职员工的互动，培养学生的独立性和自信心。工程生物活性界面和设备专注于与生物系统相互作用并促进预期反应的架构的新颖设计。这些先进的架构有许多应用，从组织工程，传感系统，药物输送和这些系统的成功开发将取决于专业知识，不仅在开发新的合成架构，通过纳米技术，自组装和混合系统，但也对这些接口与生物系统，如细胞和蛋白质的相互作用。这个REU计划将向学生介绍这个令人兴奋的多学科领域，并鼓励他们追求这个或类似领域的研究生学习。作为REU计划的一部分，本科生将有机会了解构成该领域研究基础的三个跨学科研究主题。 它们包括：1）新型生物活性结构，2）细胞/蛋白质界面相互作用，3）集成到设备中。学生将从包括工程，生物，化学和物理在内的各个本科学科中招募。肯塔基州大学周围有许多地区性的学院和大学，这些学院和大学在这些地区没有研究生课程。在这些机构的招聘将鼓励学生，否则可能不会追求更高的学位。此外，我们将在一些没有研究生课程的国家机构招聘。将作出特别努力，吸引妇女和少数民族参加这一方案，办法是在波多黎各大学和塔斯基吉大学等少数民族机构招聘人员，并在妇女工程师协会和全国黑人工程师协会等少数民族和妇女组织的全国会议上宣传这一方案。被录取的学生将与教师和IGERT研究生密切合作，他们目前正在进行合作，跨学科的研究。教师参与者有现有的研究合作，包括联合学生监督，赠款资金和出版物。拟议的REU计划建立在这些成功的合作基础上，并将其与其他教育组成部分，如研讨会，讲习班和其他技术和社会活动相结合。学生将接触到跨学科研究的兴奋，并通过该计划的结束将有什么是参与研究生研究的优秀知识。