Creation of POLS-SAVI Node at the University of Maryland

在马里兰大学创建 POLS-SAVI 节点

• 批准号: 1206005
• 负责人: Devarajan Thirumalai
• 金额: $ 65万
• 依托单位: University of Maryland, College Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-15 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1206005&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Creation; POLS; SAVI; Node; University

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.

项目：这是一个在马里兰大学 (UMD) 创建 POLS-SAVI 节点的项目。该节点是在新创建的学生研究网络的早期阶段构思的，并在跨虚拟研究所科学 (SAVI) 倡议下得到了大幅扩展，还将引入两个领先机构。其中之一是慕尼黑工业大学（TUM），它是德国领先的生物物理学中心之一。另一个是印度国家生物科学中心（NCBS），该中心在印度生物物理学领域享有卓越的地位。这三个机构将在科学专业知识和教育方面极大地丰富 POLS-SAVI 网络。将加入 POLS-SAVI 网络的三个机构的教师将带来生物物理学多个领域的专业知识。教师们在平衡和非平衡统计力学基础知识方面拥有相当多的专业知识，这些知识在解决单分子力谱问题中变得越来越重要，单分子力谱是一种用于发现机械力在生物学中的作用的工具。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）波动效应的关键。在实验方面，慕尼黑工业大学和马里兰大学正在使用各种技术来探讨从单分子到细胞水平的力响应的各种问题。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，从科学角度来看，UMD、TUM 和 NCBS 参与了涵盖时间和长度尺度范围的研究。这些主题扩大并扩大了其他参与机构所涵盖的问题范围。这三个机构也都深入参与了这一新兴领域的学生教育。当网络中的机构准备开发新课程时，在三大洲收集的集体经验也将很有用。利用网络的全部资源的主要科学好处将使参与者能够通过学习网络中可用的专业知识来极大地扩展他们进行研究的能力，而不是受到本国机构中可用工具的限制。此外，拟议的学生之间全年视频会议以及在不同地点举行的年会为扩大 POLS 的培训范围提供了宝贵的教育经验。第三，拟议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。这三个机构将有助于实现 POLS-SAVI 网络的基本使命，进而对生物问题定量方法的开发、使用和应用产生重大影响。该项目得到了物理部门生命系统物理学项目和分子和细胞生物科学部门分子生物物理学项目的联合支持。