REU Site: Sensing and Assembly Based on Non-covalent Interactions

位于密西西比州哈蒂斯堡的南密西西比大学的本科生研究体验(REU)站点奖，支持在2020-2022年夏季对10名学生进行10周的培训。在这个项目中，由数学和物理科学局的化学部和既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)支持，本科生参与者从事化学和生物化学方面的研究项目。参与者还参加了职业发展和道德培训计划，重点是实验室安全、口头交流、科学写作以及为研究生院或工业职业生涯做准备。通过独立的研究项目、研讨会和小组讨论，参与者为在STEM获得更高的学位和/或行业生涯做好准备。学生进行个人项目，涵盖化学和生物化学的所有领域，共同的主题是利用非共价相互作用。这些项目包括大分子和蛋白质的组装、超灵敏和定量检测、生物活性分子的不对称合成及其在生物化学中的应用。为了增加STEM渠道的多样性，该网站从密西西比州历史上的黑人学院和大学、女子大学和社区学院招募代表不足的学生群体、女性和第一代大学生。该计划为无法进入正式科研实验室的本科生提供密集的研究和专业培训，增加他们在STEM职业领域的留存率。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site award to The University of Southern Mississippi, located in Hattiesburg, MS, supports the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2020-2022. In this program, supported by the Division of Chemistry in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), undergraduate participants pursue research projects in chemistry and biochemistry. Participants also take part in a professional development and ethics training program, with a focus on lab safety, oral communication, scientific writing, and preparation for graduate school or industrial careers. Through independent research projects, workshops, and panel discussions, the participants are prepared for advanced degrees and/or industrial careers in STEM. The students undertake individual projects encompassing all fields of chemistry and biochemistry with a common theme of utilizing non-covalent interactions. These projects include assembly of macromolecules and proteins, ultra-sensitive and quantitative detection, and asymmetric synthesis of bioactive molecules and their applications in biochemistry. To increase diversity in the STEM pipeline, this site recruits underrepresented student groups, women, and first-generation college students from historically black colleges and universities, women's universities, and community colleges in the state of Mississippi. This program provides intensive research and professional training to undergraduate students that do not have access to formal scientific research labs, increasing their retention in STEM career fields.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.