MRI: Acquisition of a Bio-AFM for Life Science and Soft Matter Research and Research Training in New Mexico

新墨西哥州立大学（NMSU）获得了购买Bio-AFM显微镜的奖励，该显微镜包括NanoWizard 4 XP原子力显微镜和倒置OLYMPUS IX73荧光显微镜。该文书将支持新墨西哥州三个为拉美裔人服务的机构的调查人员和学生的研究和培训，这些机构也为来自该区域的美洲土著学生提供服务：拉斯克鲁塞斯的新墨西哥州立大学；索科罗新墨西哥矿业与技术研究所；东新墨西哥大学（ENMU）。该设备将通过来自超过15个部门的女性和未被充分代表的少数族裔教职员工的参与，以及他们作为Bio-AFM用户集体成员的不同学生的参与，促进包容和建设STEM劳动力。本科生和研究生将通过与项目合作提供的研讨会和活动进行招募和培训，这些项目的任务是扩大STEM研究的参与，如NSF LS-AMP、大学援助移民计划、NIH RISE和MARC。通过生物学、机械工程和分子生物学提供的学术课程，将通过强调理论和实验设计以及生物原子力显微镜的实践研究，正式培养学生的专业知识。此外，与新密歇根州立大学学生创业加速器项目箭头中心的合作将鼓励学生在生物技术初创企业中使用Bio-AFM进行创新。在生物力学和跨学科研究方面对不同学生进行培训，将传授技能，为基础科学、生物技术和生物工程领域的现代STEM劳动力建立竞争力和专业知识。Bio-AFM是生命科学和软材料研究的重要工具，它允许在生理条件下进行高分辨率成像，用于研究细胞和组织的机械性能和反应。该仪器将建立新墨西哥州各机构的研究能力，并将提高研究者在分子动力学、生物技术、细胞和发育生物学、微生物学、生理学、生殖生物学、神经科学、生理学和生物工程等广泛学科的竞争力。使用Bio-AFM系统将促进跨学科研究，并将使三个少数民族合作机构的研究人员和学生能够在微生物，植物和动物系统方面进行相关的，有影响力的和前沿的研究。他们的发现将在同行评议的期刊文章和科学会议上发表。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。

An award is made to New Mexico State University (NMSU) to purchase a Bio-AFM microscope comprising a NanoWizard 4 XP atomic force microscope integrated with an inverted OLYMPUS IX73 fluorescence microscope. This instrument will support the research and training of investigators and students in the state of New Mexico at three Hispanic-serving institutions that also serve Native American students from the region: New Mexico State University in Las Cruces (NMSU); New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro (NMT); Eastern New Mexico University in Portales (ENMU). The equipment will foster inclusion and build the STEM workforce through the participation of women and underrepresented minority faculty and staff from over fifteen departments and their diverse student mentees as members of the Bio-AFM User Collective. Undergraduate and graduate students will be recruited and trained through workshops and activities offered in partnership with programs whose mission is to broaden participation in STEM research such as NSF LS-AMP, the College Assistance Migrant Program, and NIH RISE and MARC. Academic courses offered through Biology, Mechanical Engineering, and Molecular Biology, will formally develop student expertise by emphasizing theory and experimental design as well as hands-on research with the Bio-AFM. In addition, a partnership with the NMSU student business accelerator program, the Arrowhead Center, will encourage student innovation in the use of Bio-AFM for biotechnology start-ups. Training of diverse students in biomechanics and interdisciplinary research will impart skills that will build competitiveness and expertise for the modern STEM workforce in basic science, biotechnology, and bioengineering fields.The Bio-AFM is a critical tool for life science and soft materials research that permits high resolution imaging under physiological conditions for studies of the mechanical properties and responses of cells and tissues. The instrument will build research capacity at institutions in New Mexico and will increase investigator competitiveness in a broad range of disciplines such as molecular dynamics, biotechnology, cell and developmental biology, microbiology, phycology, reproductive biology, neuroscience, physiology, and bioengineering. Access to the Bio-AFM system will foster interdisciplinary research and will enable researchers and students at the three minority-serving partner institutions to conduct relevant, impactful, and cutting-edge research in microbial, plant, and animal systems. Their discoveries will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journal articles and presentations at scientific conferences.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.