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

ID: 1359191 PI：罗斯，詹妮弗ORG：马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特标题：REU网站：生物和软物质研究培训（B-SMaRT）技术摘要这10周本科生研究经验的科学主题（REU）是软和生物材料。马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校（UMass）将与斯普林菲尔德技术社区学院（STCC）合作，对本科生进行软材料和生物材料实验和理论方面的培训。这些材料构成了我们周围的大部分世界，从塑料片、人类皮肤到雪堆和细胞，它们都居住在类似的能量尺度上，从纳米尺度到宏观尺度都存在。这个REU的目标是：(1)从STCC招收更多的学生到马萨诸塞大学转到物理专业。(2)通过早期接触研究，从STCC招募和增加麻省理工大学STEM专业中代表性不足的学生群体。(3)启发和激励学生在软物质和生物物理方面进行研究生学习。(4)培养学生成为独立的研究人员，在合作研究中茁壮成长，并擅长将实验与理论联系起来。(5)培养学生的科学沟通能力，重点是物理学与生命科学的跨学科交流。(6)通过专业发展研讨会，为学生提供职业成功的策略，包括职业道路、道德、工作场所的多样性、导师的确定、跨学科沟通、团队建设和学院关系的发展。学生将通过科学研究、实验方法、理论和计算方法的具体训练营来指导。整个夏季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会技能，如沟通和演讲技巧。该项目将在为期10周的课程前后评估学生在科学和社会技能方面的学习成果，并评估学生对科学、物理、软材料和生物材料科学的态度。麻省大学阿默斯特分校和斯普林菲尔德技术社区学院共同主办了生物和软物质研究培训（B-SMaRT） REU网站。我们身边到处都是生物和软材料。看看窗外，你可能会看到雪或沙子堆积起来。看看你的咖啡杯，你会看到咖啡渍。看看你的皮肤，当你的肌肉运动时，你会发现它有弹性地起皱和变形。尽管这些例子似乎并不重要，因为它们是日常发生的事情，但这些系统的力学和动力学特性仍然没有在基本层面上得到理解。理解看似平凡的系统，可以让我们理解一些基本而重要的问题，比如如何防止粮仓死亡、如何清理漏油、如何制造微型自折叠机器人，以及如何对抗疾病。该计划将努力通过这些有趣而又容易理解的日常世界的物理问题来吸引学生参与物理学的基本方面。此外，由于这些问题的易接近性，学生可以接触到软材料和生物材料的真正研究经验，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.