Creation of POLS-SAVI Node at the University of Maryland

项目：这是一个在马里兰州大学（UMD）建立POLS-SAVI节点的项目。这个节点是在新创建的学生研究网络的早期阶段构想出来的，并在虚拟研究所科学倡议（SAVI）下得到了极大的扩展，还将引入两个领先的机构。一个是慕尼黑工业大学（TUM），这是德国生物物理学的领先中心之一。另一个是印度的国家生物科学中心（NCBS），该中心在印度的生物物理学领域享有卓越的地位。这三个机构将大大增加POLS-SAVI网络在科学专门知识和教育方面的作用。将加入POLS-SAVI网络的三个机构的教师将在生物物理学的一些领域提供专业知识。在教师中，有相当多的专业知识在平衡和非平衡统计力学的基础知识，这是在解决单分子力谱，被用来发现生物学中的机械力的作用的工具的问题变得越来越重要。这些领域的方法是理解有限系统（包括各种代谢和基因网络）中波动效应的关键。在实验方面，无论是在TUM和UMD的各种问题，探测从单分子到细胞水平的力的响应正在使用各种技术进行。还正在进行研究，以了解蛋白质之间的相互作用以及这种相互作用如何参与信号网络。这三所大学还专注于分子机器的功能，细胞骨架网络的力学，膜在生物功能中的作用以及基因网络。因此，从科学的角度来看，UMD，TUM和NCBS参与了涵盖时间和长度尺度的研究。这些专题补充和扩大了其他参与机构正在处理的问题的范围。所有这三个机构也都深入参与了这一新兴领域的学生教育。在三大洲收集的集体经验也将有助于网络中的机构准备编制新的课程。利用该网络的全部资源的主要科学效益将使参与者能够通过学习网络中现有的专门知识而不是受本国机构现有工具的限制，大大提高其开展研究的能力。此外，拟议的学生与在不同地点举行的年度会议之间的全年视频会议增加了宝贵的教育经验，扩大了政治和安全培训的范围。第三，拟议的网络的国际范围将通过促进许多潜在的强大合作对科学方面产生世界范围的影响。这三个机构将协助实现POLS-SAVI网络的基本使命，这反过来将对生物问题定量方法的开发、使用和应用产生重大影响。该项目由物理学系生命系统物理学项目和分子和细胞生物科学系分子生物物理学项目联合支持。

Project: This is a project to create a POLS-SAVI node at the University of Maryland (UMD). This node, which was conceived during the early stages of the newly created Student Research Network and is vastly expanded under Science Across Virtual Institutes (SAVI) initiative, will also bring in two leading institutions. One is the Technical University of Munich (TUM), which is one of the leading centers in Biophysics in Germany. The other is the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in India, which enjoys a preeminent stature in the biophysics in the country. These three institutions will add greatly to the POLS-SAVI network both in scientific expertise as well as in the educational aspects. The faculty in the three institutions who will join the POLS-SAVI network bring to bear expertise in a number of areas in biological physics. Among the faculty there is considerable expertise in the basics of equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, which are becoming increasingly important in tackling problems in single molecule force spectroscopy, a tool that is being used to discover the role of mechanical forces in biology. Methods in these areas are key in understanding fluctuation effects in finite systems including various metabolic and gene networks. On the experimental side both in TUM and UMD a variety of problems probing the response of forces from single molecule to cellular level are being performed using a variety of techniques. Research is also being carried out to understand interactions between proteins and how such interactions are involved in signaling networks. The three universities also focus on functions of molecular machines, mechanics of cytoskeletal networks, the role of membranes in biological functions, and gene networks. Thus, from a scientific perspective UMD, TUM, and NCBS are involved in researches covering the gamut of temporal and length scales. These topics add to and enhance the scope of issues that are being covered by other participating institutions. All three institutions are also deeply involved in educating students in this new emerging area. The collective experience gathered in the three continents will also be useful as the institutions in the network prepare to develop new curriculum. The major scientific benefit of leveraging the entire resources of the network will enable the participants to vastly expand their ability to conduct research by learning from the expertise available in the network rather than be limited by the tools available in one's home institution. In addition, the proposed video conferencing throughout the year between the students and the annual meeting in different venues add to invaluable educational experience in enhancing the scope of training in the POLS. Third, the international scope of the proposed network will have a world-wide impact on the scientific aspect by fostering many potentially powerful collaborations. The three institutions will aid in achieving the basic mission of the POLS-SAVI network, which in turn will have substantial impact on the development, use and application of quantitative methods in biological problems. This project is being supported jointly by the Physics of Living Systems Program in the Physics Division and by the Molecular Biophysics Program in Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.