REU Site: Bio and Soft Matter Research Training (B-SMaRT)

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ID: 1359191 PI: Ross, Jennifer ORG: University of Massachusetts-AmherstTitle: REU Site: Bio and Soft Matter Research Training (B-SMaRT)TECHNICAL SUMMARYThe scientific theme of this 10 week Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) is Soft and Biological Materials. Teaming up with Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) will train undergraduates in both experimental and theoretical aspects of soft and biological materials. Such materials make up most of the world around us from plastic sheets and our human skin to snow piles and cells all inhabiting similar energy scales while existing from the nanoscale to the macroscopic. The objectives of this REU are to: (1) Recruit more students from STCC to UMass for transfer into Physics. (2) Recruit and increase retention of under-represented populations of students from STCC to UMass in STEM majors through early exposure to research. (3) Inspire and motivate students to pursue graduate studies in soft matter and biological physics. (4) Train students to become independent researchers who will thrive in collaborative research and excel in connecting experiment to theory. (5) Train students in scientific communication skills, with a focus on interdisciplinary communication between physics and the life sciences. (6) Provide students with strategies for professional success through a Professional Development Seminar covering career paths, ethics, diversity in the workplace, identifying mentors, interdisciplinary communication, team-building, and development of collegial relationships. Students will be oriented through specific bootcamps in scientific research, experimental methods, and theoretical and computational methods. Scientific and professional development workshops will be held through the summer to educate and train students in scientific reasoning and problem solving skills and give them valuable social skills such as communication and presentation skills. The program will assess learning gains for scientific and social skills before and after the 10 week session and will also evaluate the students' attitudes towards science, physics, and soft and biological materials science.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY The University of Massachusetts Amherst together with Springfield Technical Community College is hosting the Biological and Soft Matter Research Traineeships (B-SMaRT) REU Site. Biological and soft materials are all around us. Look out your window and you may see snow or sand piling up. Look at your coffee cup and you will see coffee stains. Look at your skin and you will see it elastically wrinkle and deform as your muscles move. Although these examples may seem unimportant because they are everyday occurrences, the mechanical and dynamical properties of these systems are still not understood at fundamental levels. Understanding seemingly mundane systems opens us to understanding of fundamental and important questions about how to prevent grain silo deaths, how to clean up oil spills, how to make self-folding robots on the microscale, and how to fight diseases. The program will endeavor to engage students in the fundamental aspects of physics through these interesting, yet accessible physical problems of the everyday world. Furthermore, due to the accessible nature of these problems, students can be exposed to true research experiences in soft and biological materials and learn techniques of both experiment and theory.