REU Site: Computing for Health and Well-being

这个本科生研究体验(REU)网站的主题是“计算促进健康和福祉”，由爱荷华大学计算机科学系主办。该网站的动机是由于短期挑战(如COVID19疫情带来的挑战)和长期趋势(如美国人口老龄化)对美国医疗体系造成的相当大的压力。为了解决这些和其他健康和福祉问题，我们必须培养下一代计算机科学家，让他们作为跨学科、专注于问题的团队的一部分与卫生专业人员一起工作。为了实现这一目标，该项目设计了一个为期十周的项目，通过早期接触高质量和实践的研究经验，作为多样化、引人入胜和尖端研究项目的一部分，激励学生在计算机科学和相关领域追求职业生涯。主要目标是为那些没有研究基础设施或跨学科研究机会的机构的学生提供研究经验。该项目旨在吸引代表人数不足的群体(女性和少数群体)的学生，重点是第一代学生。我们的努力将有助于培养一支有助于保持美国在科学技术方面的竞争优势的年轻科学家队伍。REU的参与者将(1)学习跨学科研究，(2)将计算思维应用于现实世界的问题，(3)熟悉不同学科的文化和研究方法，(4)参加关于研究方法、科学交流和职业发展的研讨会，(5)建立他们的第一个专业网络，并建立对自己能力的自信。每个学生将被安排在他们导师的研究小组中，致力于前沿的跨学科问题，如疾病建模、个性化助听器，或通过游戏让不同神经的儿童参与进来。在计算机促进健康和福祉的保护伞下接触各种研究项目将加深参与者对其具体项目的了解，并扩大他们对不同研究方法的欣赏。学生将通过加强与其他REU参与者、研究生、领域专家和导师的互动来学习。解决与社会相关的问题和参与专业发展的经验将为REU参与者提供具有智力挑战性和引人入胜的经验，为他们未来的计算机科学职业生涯做好准备。与研究生一起工作将为参与者提供对研究生生活的洞察，并鼓励参与者考虑研究生院。早期教师和研究生所接受的指导也将对他们未来的职业生涯产生重大影响，有助于培养下一代研究人员，以应对健康和福祉方面的计算挑战。该项目由计算机和信息科学与工程的信息和智能系统部门以及既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)联合资助。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 on “Computing for Health and Well-being” is hosted by the Department of Computer Science at the University of Iowa. The site is motivated by the considerable strain on the U.S. healthcare system due to both short-term challenges, such as those posed by the COVID19 outbreak, and long-term trends, such as an aging US population. To tackle these and other health and well-being problems, we must train the next generation of computer scientists to work alongside health professionals as part of interdisciplinary, problem-focused teams. Toward this goal, this project has designed a ten-week program that will inspire students to pursue careers in computer science and related fields through early exposure to high-quality and hands-on research experiences as part of diverse, engaging, and cutting-edge research projects. The primary goal is to provide research experiences to students from institutions that do not have the research infrastructure or interdisciplinary research opportunities available. This project aims to attract students from underrepresented groups (female and minorities) with an emphasis on first-generation students. Our efforts will contribute to preparing a workforce of young scientists who will help maintain America's competitive advantage in science and technology.The REU participants will (1) learn about interdisciplinary research, (2) apply computational thinking to real-world problems, (3) become familiar with the culture and research methods of different disciplines, and (4) participate in workshops on research methods, scientific communication, and career development, and (5) create their first professional network and build self-confidence in their abilities. Each student will be placed into their mentor’s research group to work on cutting-edge interdisciplinary problems such as disease modeling, personalizing hearing aids, or engaging neurodiverse children through gameplay. Exposure to diverse research projects under the umbrella of computing for health and well-being will further participants’ understanding of their specific project and broaden their appreciation of different research methods. Students will learn through reinforcing interactions with other REU participants, graduate students, domain experts, and mentors. The experiences of tackling socially relevant problems and participating in professional development will provide REU participants with an intellectually challenging and engaging experience, preparing them for their future computer science careers. Working alongside graduate students will provide the participants with insights into graduate student life and encourage participants to consider graduate school. The mentoring received by early-career faculty and graduate students will also significantly impact their future careers, helping to train the next generation of researchers to tackle computational challenges in health and well-being.This project is jointly funded by Computer and Information Science and Engineering’s Information and Intelligent Systems division and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.