Student Research Network in the Physics of Living Systems: Georgia Tech Node

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In this project, the PIs at Georgia Tech (GT) will join the existing Physics of Living Systems Student Research Network. Growth of the GT program will: 1) bring research topics in underrepresented areas to the PoLS SRN, 2) integrate PoLS at GT into the broader bio-related community at GT, in turn creating a hub in the Southeast of the US for PoLS, 3) create sustained interaction with faculty at world-leading institutions while lubricating opportunities for national and international collaborations, 4) create new PoLS experimental, modeling and theoretical tools, 5) create new PoLS curriculum, 6) train students and postdocs who can advance PoLS at GT and become the next generation of PoLS researchers. The co-PIs on this proposal include four scientists from the Biophysics Group in the School of Physics (SoP), one from Mechanical Engineering, and a senior member of the SoP. They are joined by approximately 20 faculty within and outside the SoP who have research interests that fall within the scope of PoLS. These represent areas within the College of Sciences and the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech. In the last five years, the SoP at Georgia Tech has begun to develop a program in biophysics with the goal to become a world leader in this area, and also help develop technologies that can advance both basic science and human health. The core Biophysics Group in the SoP (consisting of four primary faculty and four adjunct faculty) seeks to understand how physics can inform questions of structure, function and dynamics in biological systems, and to study fundamental physics questions posed by biological systems. As a goal for future growth and leadership, the group intends to build on the successes and strengths of the nonlinear science and soft matter communities at GT. A second goal is to integrate their program with the already world-class engineering programs (specifically bioengineering) at GT.