REU Site: Interdisciplinary biological sciences research and community engaged learning experiences for undergraduates

该REU网站奖授予位于宾夕法尼亚州匹兹堡的杜肯大学，将在2019-2021年夏季为8名学生提供为期10周的培训。该网站将作为培训模式的试点，由四名学生和导师组成更大的跨学科团队。每个学生将根据研究兴趣与导师配对，每对学生将与另一对学生一起组成一个由两个邻近学科（例如纳米技术和神经遗传学）组成的团队。学生将从两个独特的角度了解研究问题。每个学生将专注于跨学科项目的不同方面，并在最后的研讨会上制作独特的海报或口头报告。这些跨学科项目涉及疼痛感觉和行为的蛋白质运输，神经炎症性疼痛的分子基础，脂质代谢的比较基因组学和功能分析，以及皮肤微生物群的时空动态。项目内容包括职业和道德/负责任的研究训练、期刊俱乐部和社区参与，学生在夏令营中与中学生分享科学活动，培养沟通、专业和公民技能。特别鼓励来自代表性不足的少数民族和/或第一代大学生的申请人申请。预计该项目将从研究机会有限的学校培养24名主要是未被充分代表的少数族裔和第一代大学生。学生将学习跨学科研究是如何进行的，许多人将在科学会议上展示他们的工作成果。他们将获得与研究和职业相关的指导，与其他本科生学员建立一个支持性的群体，并通过与孩子们分享科学来吸引公众参与他们的研究。由生物基础设施部资助的所有REU站点计划使用的通用网络评估工具将用于确定培训计划的有效性。课程结束后，将对学生进行跟踪，以确定他们的职业道路。学生将被要求回复通过NSF报告系统自动发送的电子邮件。更多信息请访问http://www.duq.edu/academics/schools/natural-and-environmental-sciences/undergraduate-research，或联系PI (Dr. O？Donnell，网址：odonne15@duq.edu)或Co-PI （Sarah Woodley博士网址：woodleys@duq.edu）。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行了评估，认为值得支持。

This REU Site award to Duquesne University, located in Pittsburgh, PA, will support the training of 8 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2019-2021. This site will serve as a pilot for a training model with larger interdisciplinary teams with a combination of four students and mentors. Each student will be paired with a mentor based on research interests, and each pair will join another pair to form a team from two near-neighbor disciplines (e.g., nanotechnology and neurogenetics). Students will gain an understanding of the research question from two unique perspectives. Each student will focus on a different aspect of the interdisciplinary project and will produce a unique poster or oral presentation at the final symposium. These interdisciplinary projects are in the areas of protein trafficking on pain sensation and behavior, molecular basis of neuroinflammatory pain, comparative genomics and functional analysis of lipid metabolism, and spatiotemporal dynamics of skin microbiota. Program components include career and ethics/responsible conduct of research training, journal clubs, and community-engagement where students share science activities with middle school students at a summer camp, fostering communication, professional and civic skills. Applicants from underrepresented minorities and/or first-generation university students are especially encouraged to apply. It is anticipated the program will train a total of 24 primarily underrepresented minority and first-generation college students from schools with limited research opportunities. Students will learn how interdisciplinary research is conducted and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. They will receive mentoring related to research and careers, build a supportive cohort with fellow undergraduate trainees, and engage the public in their research by sharing science with children.A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU Site programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program to determine their career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information is available at http://www.duq.edu/academics/schools/natural-and-environmental-sciences/undergraduate-research, or by contacting the PI (Dr. O?Donnell, at odonne15@duq.edu) or Co-PI (Dr. Sarah Woodley at woodleys@duq.edu).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.