REU Site: MURALS (Materials-focused Undergraduate Research Applied to the Life Sciences) at UMass Amherst

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。这个REU网站每年夏天为马萨诸塞大学阿姆赫斯特分校（UMass Amherst）的10名本科生提供研究机会。这个REU网站的独特之处在于，它将为学生提供如何创建先进材料以及如何使用这些材料来解决生物学中的重大挑战的培训。学生在生物/材料界面的实验室工作，参加由REU网站提供的专业发展和技术培训，并向同行和实验室导师学习，指导学生的职业发展。该网站拥有来自麻省大学阿默斯特分校化学工程和生物医学工程领域的杰出导师。所有的实验室都通过麻省理工学院应用生命科学研究所在物理上和智力上联系在一起。工业实地考察和企业外展活动帮助学生接触生物技术领域潜在的职业机会。与马萨诸塞大学其他专业发展项目的合作支持各种背景的REU学生的招聘和指导，以确保每个人都有平等的机会在马萨诸塞大学进行研究。在几个为少数族裔服务的全国会议上进行的招聘工作，以及通过麻省理工大学工程学院的多样性办公室与少数族裔服务机构的合作，确保了来自传统上代表性不足的群体的学生在STEM领域的机会。评估工作跟踪这些群体学生的长期成果。这是马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校的一个新的REU网站（MURALS：以材料为重点的本科研究应用于生命科学），每年夏天为10名本科生提供研究机会，广泛涉及生物工程应用材料领域。该REU网站的首席研究员Shelly Peyton教授是生物工程方面的专家，专注于应用生物材料开发来解决生物学中的复杂问题。该网站有10个托管实验室，由麻省大学阿默斯特分校化学工程和生物医学工程系的教师组成，他们通过麻省大学阿默斯特分校应用生命科学研究所在物理和智力上联系在一起。MURALS REU网站的总体目标是：1)招募和鼓励传统上代表性不足的工程群体的学生在材料和生命科学的界面上进行研究；2)鼓励各种背景的学生在材料和生命科学的界面上攻读研究生和/或职业生涯；3)通过精心策划的写作、演讲技巧和与不同科学家群体合作的研讨会，培养学生成为有效的科学传播者；4)通过将学生与实验室外的同行导师配对，将REU学生融入马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校更广泛的科学界；5)通过与als的技术开发办公室、麻省理工学院的生物技术培训计划（BTP）和行业实地考察，让学生探索他们对创业的兴趣；6)为学生提供专业发展研讨会和工具（例如，职业选择，研究伦理，面试策略，时间管理），以便在他们离开MURALS后很长一段时间内灌输在任何行业取得成功的技术。在几个为少数族裔服务的全国会议上的招聘工作，以及通过工程学院的多样性办公室与少数族裔服务机构的合作，确保了STEM中传统上代表性不足的群体的学生有机会。评估工作跟踪这些群体学生的长期成果。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 award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Non-Technical SummaryThis REU site offers research opportunities for 10 undergraduates each summer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst). This REU site is unique in that it will give students training in how to create advanced materials and how to use these materials to tackle grand challenges in biology. Students work in laboratories at the biology/materials interface, take part in both professional development and technical training provided by the REU site, and learn from near-peer and lab mentors to guide student career development. The site has outstanding mentors from leaders in the field from both Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at UMass Amherst. All labs are physically and intellectually connected through the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass. Industry site visits and entrepreneurial outreach activities help expose students to potential career opportunities in biotechnology. Partnership with the other professional development programs at UMass supports recruitment and mentoring of REU students across all backgrounds to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to research opportunities at UMass. Recruiting efforts at several minority-serving national conferences, as well as partnerships with minority-serving institutions via the Diversity Office in the College of Engineering at UMass ensures opportunities for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. Evaluation efforts track the long-term outcomes for students from these groups. Technical SummaryThis is a new REU site (MURALS: Materials-focused Undergraduate Research Applied to the Life Sciences) at UMass Amherst, developed to offer research opportunities for 10 undergraduates each summer, broadly in the area of materials for bioengineering applications. The PI of this REU site, Prof. Shelly Peyton, is an expert in bioengineering, with a focus on applying biomaterials development toward solving complex problems in biology. This site has 10 host laboratories, with faculty from the Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering departments at UMass Amherst, who are both physically and intellectually connected through the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst. The overarching objectives of the MURALS REU Site are to: 1) Recruit and encourage students from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering to do research at the interface of materials and the life sciences; 2) Inspire students from all backgrounds to pursue graduate studies and/or professional careers at the interface of materials and the life sciences; 3) Train students to be effective scientific communicators, through carefully planned workshops on writing, presentation skills, and working amongst diverse groups of scientists; 4) Integrate REU students within the broader scientific community at UMass Amherst by pairing students with peer mentors outside the lab; 5) Allow students to explore their interests in entrepreneurship, through a partnership with the technology development office within IALS, the Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) at UMass, and industry Site visits; 6) Provide students with professional development workshops and tools (e.g., career choices, ethics in research, interviewing strategies, time management) to instill the techniques to succeed in any industry long after they leave MURALS. Recruiting efforts at several minority-serving national conferences, as well as partnerships with minority-serving institutions via the Diversity Office in the College of Engineering ensure opportunities for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. Evaluation efforts track the long-term outcomes for students from these groups.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.