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

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年的美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。非技术摘要这个REU网站每年夏天在马萨诸塞州阿默斯特大学（UMass Amherst）为10名本科生提供研究机会。 这个REU网站是独一无二的，因为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应对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REU网站提供的专业发展和技术培训，并向近同行和实验室导师学习，以指导学生的职业发展。 该网站有来自化学工程和生物医学工程领域的领导者在马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校杰出的导师。所有的实验室都通过麻省大学应用生命科学研究所进行物理和智力上的连接。 工业现场参观和创业推广活动有助于学生接触生物技术的潜在就业机会。 与马萨诸塞大学其他专业发展计划的合作伙伴关系支持招聘和指导所有背景的REU学生，以确保每个人都有平等的机会在马萨诸塞大学的研究机会。在几个少数民族服务的全国会议，以及通过多样性办公室在工程学院在马萨诸塞州大学与少数民族服务机构的伙伴关系招聘工作，确保学生从传统上代表性不足的群体在干的机会。评估工作跟踪这些群体学生的长期成果。技术摘要这是一个新的REU网站（MURALS：材料为重点的本科生研究应用于生命科学）在马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校，开发提供研究机会，为10名本科生每年夏天，广泛的生物工程应用领域的材料。该REU研究中心的PI Shelly佩顿教授是生物工程方面的专家，专注于将生物材料开发应用于解决生物学中的复杂问题。该网站有10个主机实验室，从化学工程和生物医学工程系在马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校，谁都是通过应用生命科学研究所在马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校物理和智力连接教师。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）鼓励来自各种背景的学生在材料和生命科学的界面上进行研究生学习和/或职业生涯; 3）通过精心策划的写作，演讲技巧和在不同科学家群体中工作的研讨会，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）允许学生探索他们的创业兴趣，通过与IALS内的技术开发办公室，麻省大学的生物技术培训计划（BTP）和行业现场访问的伙伴关系; 6）为学生提供专业发展研讨会和工具（例如，职业选择，研究道德，面试策略，时间管理），以灌输技术，在任何行业取得成功后，他们离开MURALS很长一段时间。在几个少数民族服务的国家会议，以及通过多样性办公室与少数民族服务机构的合作伙伴关系招聘工作在工程学院确保学生的机会从传统上代表性不足的群体在干。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

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.