REU Site: Convergence of Research at the Interface of the Biological, Physical, and Engineering Sciences

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This REU Site award to Yale University, located in New Haven, CT, will support the training of eight students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2015- 2017. The program focuses on grand challenges in the life sciences using physical and quantitative approaches. The program includes more than twelve Yale faculty mentors from nine departments: Applied Physics, Biomedical Engineering, Cell Biology, Chemical & Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Pathology, and Physics. In consultation with the program leadership, students choose a mentor and research project from three areas: (A) mechanics of cellular processes, (B) protein function, design, and engineering, and (C) technology and method development for imaging biological systems and processes. Students also participate in workshops on laboratory methods, scientific presentations, ethics, STEM careers, and the graduate school admissions process. Students present their work at a research symposium coordinated with the NSF-funded CRISP REU program at Yale. Students are selected based on their academic performance, research interests that mesh with those of the REU program, and their interest in STEM careers. It is anticipated that a total of 24 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted, and will be encouraged to present their results at scientific conferences. The program's professional development activities will include oral and poster presentation workshops, information sessions on the graduate application process, and outreach activities that involve communicating science to the general public. A significant goal of the program is that by year 3 at least two thirds of the participants will have decided to pursue a PhD or MD/PhD after graduation from college. Thus, this program will contribute directly to the development of a STEM workforce. Students that participate in this program are required to be tracked after completion of the program and must respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information is available at http://www.sackler.yale.edu/summer.htm, or by contacting the PI (Prof. Corey O'Hern at corey.ohern@yale.edu) or co-PI (Prof. Lynne Regan at lynne.regan@yale.edu).