IRES: Track I: Exploring Biobased Plastics and Materials through Collaborative Research in Japan

随着全球对塑料废物对环境影响的关注不断增加，迫切需要提供可持续材料的新解决方案，以及具有全球意识的科学家和工程师来提供这些解决方案。这个IRES Track I项目旨在开发这些解决方案，同时探索生物基塑料和材料的新领域，并培训下一代创新问题解决者。通过该计划，来自亚利桑那州立大学（ASU）和纳瓦霍技术大学（NTU）的美国研究生和本科生将前往日本京都工业大学（KIT）生物基材料系参加实践研究项目。本项目每年夏季为3名研究生和6名本科生提供为期10周的培训机会；在为期3年的项目期间，分别有9名和18名参与者。学生将进入KIT教师的实验室，与他们和他们的学生密切合作和工作。通过让学生参与一系列有意义的研究经验，该项目旨在激发和/或进一步培养他们对生物技术、材料科学和可持续发展的兴趣，同时增强他们对STEM学科的深造和职业的热情。通过与南洋理工大学的合作，以及认真的整体招聘策略，该项目还将为来自代表性不足群体的学生提供重要的STEM研究机会。除了有影响力的研究经验，参观工业基地和政府研究设施将提供，以提高学生的专业准备和他们对未来的职业机会在这个领域的理解。学生参加者还将参加一系列独特的文化活动。最终，通过在一所拥有世界一流师资和研究设施的大学以及一个拥有无与伦比文化设施的城市提供这个项目，这个项目还将有助于加强学生作为全球科学界成员的身份，同时让他们深刻认识到合作为复杂的全球问题提供解决方案的重要性。通过提高生物塑料的产量，该项目的成果有望减少对不可再生石油和天然气的依赖，并且在许多情况下，通过消耗大气中的二氧化碳（一种温室气体），有可能对碳循环产生积极影响。第二部分：通过该计划提供的具体项目的目标跨越了生物基塑料和材料生产所面临的相关研究挑战的连续性，包括从上游转化，到聚合物合成和材料开发，到最终产品的表征，再到它们的最终生物降解。该计划的学生将在以下一个或多个领域接受综合培训：i)应用微生物学和生物工艺工程，以提高多样化的生物衍生单体的可用性；Ii)利用生物衍生单体生产新型生物塑料的高分子化学与工程；Iii)从不同来源（如竹和丝）和各种应用中设计新的纤维和材料；Iv)用于生物医学应用的新型功能化生物材料的合成和表征；5)开发新的分析技术，用于新型单体的高通量筛选和生物基材料和塑料的纳米结构表征；研究生物塑料的可持续降解方法。该项目还将为各学院教员之间的直接接触提供大量机会，使其成为促进各院校之间长期、多学科研究合作的有效平台。最终，增强生物塑料生产有望减少对不可再生石油和天然气的依赖，同时通过消耗大气中的二氧化碳对碳循环产生积极影响。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。

Part 1: As global concerns over the environmental impacts of plastic waste continue to grow, new solutions for providing sustainable materials are desperately needed, along with globally-minded scientists and engineers to deliver them. This IRES Track I project seeks to develop such solutions while exploring new frontiers of biobased plastics and materials and training the next generation of innovative problem solvers. Through the proposed program, U.S. graduate and undergraduate students from at Arizona State University (ASU) and Navajo Technical University (NTU) will travel to and participate in hands-on research projects in the Department of Biobased Materials at Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT) in Kyoto, Japan. For 10 weeks each Summer, this project will provide training opportunities for 3 graduate and 6 undergraduate student participants; or 9 and 18 total participants, respectively, over the duration of the 3-year project. Students will be embedded into the labs of KIT faculty, collaborating and working closely with them and their students. By engaging students in a series of meaningful research experiences, this project seeks to spark and/or further cultivate their interest in biotechnology, materials science, and sustainability, while strengthening their enthusiasm for advanced studies and careers in STEM disciplines. Through partnership with NTU, along with a conscientious overall recruitment strategy, this project will also provide important STEM research opportunities for students from under-represented groups. In addition to impactful research experiences, tours of industrial sites and government research facilities will be offered to improve the professional preparation of students and their understanding of future career opportunities in this field. Student participants will also take part in a series of unique cultural activities. Ultimately, by offering this project internationally at a university with world-class faculty and research facilities and in a city with unparalleled cultural amenities, this program will also help to strengthen student identities as members of a global scientific community, while impressing upon them the importance of collaboration for providing solutions to complex global problems. By enhancing the production of bioplastics, outcomes of this project offer the promise to reduce dependence on non-renewable oil and natural gas as well as, in many cases, the potential to positively impact the carbon cycle by consuming atmospheric CO2, a greenhouse gas. Part 2: The goals of the specific projects to be offered via this program span the continuum of relevant research challenges facing the production of biobased plastics and materials, including from upstream conversion, to polymer synthesis and materials development, to characterization of the resulting products, to their ultimate biodegradation. Students in the program will receive comprehensive training in one or more the following areas: i) applied microbiology and bioprocess engineering to enhance the availability of diverse, bio-derived monomers; ii) polymer chemistry and engineering for producing new bioplastics from bio-derived monomers; iii) engineering of novel fibers and materials from diverse sources (e.g., bamboo and silk) and for various applications; iv) synthesis and characterization of novel, functionalized biomaterials for biomedical applications; v) development of new analytical techniques for high-throughput screening of novel monomers and nanostructural characterization of biobased materials and plastics; and vi) investigation of sustainable methods for bioplastic degradation. This program will also provide numerous opportunities for direct engagement between faculty members across schools, enabling it to serve as an effective platform for fostering long-term, multi-disciplinary research collaborations between institutions. Ultimately, enhanced bioplastics production offers the promise to reduce dependence on non-renewable oil and natural gas while positively impacting the carbon cycle by consuming atmospheric CO2.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.