Collaborative Research: Formation of a High Flux Student Research Network (HF-SRN) as a Laboratory for Enhancing Interaction in the PoLS SRN

NSF 生命系统物理学 (PoLS) 学生研究网络 (SRN) 致力于将美国和国际不同机构（“节点”）从事物理学和生物学研究的学生和教师联合起来。运行良好的虚拟网络可以使本地节点的学生能够利用 PoLS 中的全球教育和研究机会。 PoLS 是一个多元化的领域，由来自不同背景的研究人员和学生组成。没有任何一个机构能够提供（1）研究的广度和深度，以及（2）既涵盖相关知识领域又为学生提供深入培训的课程。这种培训对于培养下一代研究人员至关重要，他们能够为生物物理学做出定量贡献，并能够在生物学、物理学、数学和工程学之间转换； PoLS 学生在下一代中发挥着重要作用。此外，没有任何一个机构拥有在生物系统中遇到的巨大时间和长度尺度上研究 PoLS 所需的设备。最后，很少有单一机构能够有效地将科学和工程结合起来，以激发基础 PoLS 研究产生的生物医学、机器人和假肢设备。 HF-SRN 将为学生创造一个可以在不同学科之间工作的环境，同时保持物理思维（简化的系统、很少的参数预测模型）并开发新的物理。这个网络将训练学生（菲利普·尼尔森在他的 2008 年生物物理教科书中解释）“他们可以在两种大脑之间流畅地切换：‘发展/历史/复杂’科学和‘普遍/非历史/还原论’。”随着 HF-SRN 内重大合作和教育的发展，成功的活动将扩大到其他美国节点（最终期望与 PoLS SRN 国际合作伙伴合作）。该评估计划将有助于指导 HF-SRN 的各个方面，这些方面可能会增加 NSF Science Across Virtual Institutes 计划中其他项目的通量。更广泛地说，PoLS SRN 的学生可以成为下一代研究人员的领导者，将生物学和物理学研究无缝融合。这些学生将创作材料，为未来的 K-12 以及大学 PoLS 课程奠定基础。我们将努力将 HF-SRN（以及整个 SRN）内开展的教育和研究工作扩展到更广泛的社区，包括当地少数民族服务机构。 PoLS 的进步可以带来基因组编辑、癌症动力学、机器人和人类辅助设备等应用的进步。在作为 SRN 的一部分提供资金的最后一个时期，佐治亚理工学院、哈佛大学和马里兰州节点推进了各自的 PoLS 项目，发展了有凝聚力的当地社区。该项目的目标是进一步为学生（及其想法）提供在 SRN 内更轻松地“流动”的机会，从而发现可以转移到更大的 SRN 的增加人类网络流量的工作原理。为此，将在三个现有 SRN 节点（将埃默里大学作为佐治亚理工学院的分包合同）之间开发重要的交互（以及对这些交互的评估），形成“高通量 SRN”（HF-SRN）。 HF-SRN 将参与以下活动： 1) 重点合作研究项目，这些项目跨越各个节点，并通过利用学生和教师在当前项目中的专业知识来“构建成功”； 2) 学生主导的动态工作组（例如，生物分子、微生物、细胞和有机物理学）利用教师的研究优势和学生的兴趣，为这些主题开发跨节点社区。 3) 学生主导的训练营：为期 2-3 天的密集教程（例如显微镜、机器人物理学、图像分析），具有跨小组切割主题，向 HF-SRN 成员开放并在特定节点举行； 4) 学生主导的研讨会：由演讲、海报和讨论会组成，邀请整个 PoLS SRN； 5) 通过开源课程材料进行课程开发，整合跨节点的互补专业知识。所有活动都将由每个节点的主要 PI 组成的理事会进行评估和评定。该项目得到了物理部生命系统物理学计划、分子和细胞生物科学部分子生物物理学计划以及综合有机体系统部调制计划的联合支持。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The NSF Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) Student Research Network (SRN) strives to unite students and faculty working at the interface of physics and biology at different institutions ("nodes") within the US and internationally. A well functioning virtual network could give students at local nodes the ability to take advantage of global educational and research opportunities in PoLS. PoLS is a diverse field, and is composed of researchers and students from varied backgrounds. No single institution can offer (1) the breadth and depth of research and (2) courses that both cover the relevant intellectual landscape and provide in-depth training for students. Such training is critical to create the next generation of researchers who can contribute quantitatively to biophysics, with the ability to move between biology, physics, mathematics, and engineering; PoLS students have important roles to play in this next generation. In addition, no single institution has the range of equipment needed to study PoLS on the enormous range of time and length scales encountered in biological systems. Finally, few single institutions can fruitfully integrate science and engineering to inspire biomedical, robotic and prosthetic devices that will result from basic PoLS research. The HF-SRN will create an environment for students in which they can work among various disciplines while maintaining the physics mindset (simplified systems, few parameter predictive models) and developing new physics. This network will train students (paraphrasing Philip Nelson in his 2008 Biological Physics textbook) "who can switch fluidly between both kinds of brain: the `developmental/historical/complex' sciences and the 'universal/ahistorical/reductionist'." As significant collaborative and educational flux develops within the HF-SRN, successful activities will be broadened to the other US nodes (ultimately with the expectation to engage PoLS SRN international partners). The evaluation plan will help guide aspects of the HF-SRN that could increase flux in other programs in the NSF Science Across Virtual Institutes initiative. More broadly, PoLS SRN students can be leaders in the next generation of researchers who blend biology and physics research seamlessly. Such students will create materials which will seed future K-12 as well as university PoLS curricula. Efforts will be made to extend the educational and research efforts developed within the HF-SRN (and entire SRN) to a broader community including local minority serving institutions. Advances in PoLS can lead to advances in applications such as genome editing, cancer dynamics, robotics and human-assist devices, among others.During the last period of funding as part of the SRN, the Georgia Tech, Harvard and Maryland nodes have advanced their respective PoLS programs, developing cohesive local communities. The goal of this project is to further develop opportunities for students (and their ideas) to "flow" more easily within the SRN and thereby discover working principles of increased human network flux that can be transferred into the larger SRN. To do so, significant interactions (and evaluations of those interactions) will be developed among three existing SRN nodes (adding Emory as a subcontract to Georgia Tech), forming a "High Flux SRN" (HF-SRN). The HF-SRN will engage in activities such as 1) Collaborative Focused Research Projects, which span nodes and are "built to succeed" by leveraging student and faculty expertise in current projects; 2) Student-Led Dynamic Working Groups (e.g., in biomolecular, microbial, cellular and organismal physics) leveraging faculty research strengths and student interest to develop cross-node communities for these topics. 3) Student-Led Bootcamps: intense 2-3 day tutorials (e.g., microscopy, robophysics, image analysis) with cross-subgroup cutting themes, open to HF-SRN members and held at a particular node; 4) Student-Led Workshops: composed of talks, poster and discussion sessions, inviting the entire PoLS SRN; 5) Curriculum development via open-source course materials, integrating complementary expertise across nodes. All activities will be evaluated and assessed by a Council composed of the lead PIs at each node. This project is being jointly supported by the Physics of Living Systems program in the Division of Physics, the Molecular Biophysics Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, and the Modulation Program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.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.