IRES: Track I: Insights into human evolution gained from genetic, morphological, and neuroscientific analyses at the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University, Japan

这项国际学生研究经验（IRES） Track I奖将为18名美国学生提供在日本京都大学灵长类动物研究所（PRI）进行与使用非人类灵长类动物模型有关的研究以深入了解人类进化史的宝贵研究机会。现代人类是一个更大的两足猿类辐射的唯一幸存的谱系，包括多个属和许多物种。然而，由于化石记录的不完整，以及现代人、尼安德特人和丹尼索瓦人以外的基因记录的缺失，对人类进化的直接研究受到了严重限制。因此，为了深入了解人类进化的关键问题，我们必须研究现存的非人类灵长类动物。人类在各种认知、行为、生理和社会特征上都是独一无二的。这些变量也导致了犬类雌性化、乳腺永久性增大、雄性精子数量和活力相对较低，以及对其他物种没有记录的疾病的易感性，包括精神分裂症和阿尔茨海默病。包括非人类灵长类动物在内的比较研究对于确定人类的遗传、神经解剖学和形态学特征至关重要。灵长类动物研究所（PRI）为研究这些问题提供了理想的环境，因为它可以说是世界上资源最丰富的灵长类动物中心，那里的研究团队从思想、身体和分子的角度对人类和非人类灵长类动物进行了全面的研究。肯特州立-京都大学IRES站点将使六名肯特州立研究生在接下来的三个夏天（2020-2022）每年前往PRI，在日本导师的指导下进行为期九周的研究项目。这个项目将成为学生个人和专业发展的重要跳板。他们将发展日语的基本语言能力；他们将了解日本社会，特别是科学文化；他们将在职业生涯的早期建立一个国际合作网络；他们将在全球劳动力市场上获得更大的流动性和就业能力。这些学生建立的联系还将有助于进一步加强与日本的关系，日本是美国重要的政治、经济和科学伙伴。超过一半的学生参与者将是女性，其中一些来自少数群体，从而推进使美国研究人员更加多样化和包容性的社会目标。在完成这个IRES项目后，将为美国国家科学基金会准备一份描述跨文化成功和失误及其解决方法的最终报告，并在肯特州立大学的网站上公布。这份报告将有助于指导未来类似的美日科学合作的发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) Track I award will provide 18 U.S. students with a rare and invaluable research opportunity at the Primate Research Institute (PRI) of Kyoto University in Japan to conduct research related to the use of nonhuman primate models to gain insight into human evolutionary history. Modern humans are the sole remaining lineage of a much larger radiation of bipedal apes that included multiple genera and a number of species. Direct studies of human evolution, however, are severely limited by an incomplete fossil record and the absence of a genetic record beyond modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. Consequently, to gain insight into crucial issues of human evolution, we must study living nonhuman primates. Humans are unique in a variety of cognitive, behavioral, physiological, and social characteristics. These variables also contribute to such things as feminized canines, permanently enlarged mammary glands, relatively low sperm count and motility in males, and susceptibility to diseases not documented in other species, including schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. Comparative studies that include nonhuman primates are pivotal for identifying the genetic, neuroanatomical, and morphological features that define what it is to be human. The Primate Research Institute (PRI) provides the ideal setting for investigating these issues because it is arguably the most resource-rich primate center in the world, and the research teams there conduct holistic studies of human and nonhuman primates from mind, body, and molecular perspectives. The Kent State-Kyoto University IRES site will enable six Kent State graduate students to travel to the PRI in each of the next three summers (2020-2022) to conduct nine-week research projects under Japanese mentors. This program will be a significant launchpad for the personal and professional development of the students. They will develop basic language competency in Japanese; they will gain an understanding of Japanese society, especially scientific culture; they will build a network of international collaborators very early in their careers; and they will gain increased mobility and employability in a global labor market. The connections made by these students will also serve to further strengthen ties with Japan, an important political, economic, and scientific partner of the United States. More than half of the student participants will be women, with a number from minority groups, thus advancing societal goals of making the U.S. pool of researchers more diverse and inclusive. Upon completion of this IRES program, a final report describing intercultural successes and missteps, and how they were resolved, will be prepared for the NSF and made available on the Kent State University website. This report will help guide the development of similar U.S.-Japan scientific collaborations in the future.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.