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

ID：1359191 Pi：Ross，Jennifer ORG：马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校标题：REU网站：生物与软物质研究培训(B-SMART)技术总结这10周本科生研究体验的科学主题是软与生物材料。马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校与斯普林菲尔德技术社区学院(STCC)合作，将在软材料和生物材料的实验和理论方面对本科生进行培训。这种材料构成了我们周围的大部分世界，从塑料板、人类皮肤到雪堆和细胞，它们都存在于从纳米尺度到宏观尺度的相似能量尺度上。这个REU的目标是：(1)招收更多的学生从理工学院转到麻省理工学院学习物理。(2)通过早期接触研究，招收和增加STEM专业从STCC到UMAS的代表不足的学生群体的留住。(3)激发和激励学生攻读软物质和生物物理学的研究生课程。(4)培养学生成为独立的研究人员，在合作研究中茁壮成长，并善于将实验与理论联系起来。(5)培养学生的科学交流技能，重点是物理学和生命科学之间的跨学科交流。(6)通过职业发展研讨会向学生提供职业成功的战略，内容包括职业道路、道德、工作场所的多样性、确定导师、跨学科交流、团队建设和发展大学关系。学生将通过科学研究、实验方法、理论和计算方法方面的特定训练营进行定向。整个暑期将举办科学和专业发展讲习班，教育和培训学生科学推理和解决问题的技能，并向他们传授宝贵的社交技能，如沟通和陈述技能。该项目将在为期10周的课程之前和之后评估科学和社交技能的学习成果，并评估学生对科学、物理以及软和生物材料科学的态度。非技术概述马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特大学与斯普林菲尔德技术社区学院共同主办生物和软物质研究实习生(B-SMART)REU网站。生物材料和软材料无处不在。往窗外看，你可能会看到雪或沙子在堆积。看着你的咖啡杯，你会看到咖啡污渍。看看你的皮肤，你会发现随着你肌肉的移动，它会有弹性的皱纹和变形。尽管这些例子可能看起来并不重要，因为它们是日常发生的，但这些系统的力学和动力学性质仍然没有从根本上被理解。通过了解看似平凡的系统，我们可以了解一些基本而重要的问题，如如何防止谷仓死亡、如何清理漏油、如何制造微型自动折叠机器人，以及如何抗击疾病。该计划将努力通过这些有趣的，但容易接触到的日常世界的物理问题，让学生参与到物理学的基本方面。此外，由于这些问题的可及性，学生可以接触到真正的软材料和生物材料的研究经验，并学习实验和理论技术。

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.