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

该奖项的全部或部分资金来自《2021年美国救援计划法案》(公法117-2)。非技术概述这个REU网站每年夏天为马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校(UMassamherst)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，并向近距离同行和实验室导师学习，以指导学生的职业发展。该网站拥有来自马萨诸塞州阿默斯特大学化学工程和生物医学工程领域领导者的杰出导师。所有实验室都通过马萨诸塞州应用生命科学研究所在物理和智力上连接在一起。行业实地考察和创业推广活动有助于让学生接触到生物技术领域的潜在职业机会。与马萨诸塞州大学其他专业发展项目的合作伙伴关系支持招收和指导各种背景的REU学生，以确保每个人都有平等的机会在马萨诸塞州大学进行研究。在几个为少数群体服务的国家会议上的招聘努力，以及通过马萨诸塞州大学工程学院的多样性办公室与为少数群体服务的机构建立的伙伴关系，确保了来自STEM中传统上代表性不足的群体的学生的机会。评估工作跟踪这些群体的学生的长期结果。技术概述这是马萨诸塞州大学阿默斯特分校的一个新的REU网站(MURALS：专注于材料的本科生研究应用于生命科学)，旨在每年夏天为10名本科生提供研究机会，主要是生物工程应用材料领域的研究。这个REU网站的PI，Shelly Peyton教授，是一位生物工程专家，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个托管实验室，来自阿默斯特大学化学工程和生物医学工程系的教师通过阿默斯特大学应用生命科学研究所在身体和智力上都建立了联系。壁画REU网站的总体目标是：1)招收和鼓励传统上代表性较低的工程学群体的学生从事材料和生命科学界面的研究；2)激励来自各种背景的学生在材料和生命科学界面上攻读研究生课程和/或专业生涯；3)通过精心策划的写作、演讲技能和不同科学家群体之间的合作，培养学生成为有效的科学传播者；4)通过在实验室外将学生与同行导师配对，将REU学生融入到马萨诸塞州阿默斯特大学更广泛的科学社区中；5)通过与ACES内的技术开发办公室、马萨诸塞州大学生物技术培训计划(BTP)的合作伙伴关系和行业现场访问，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(如职业选择、研究道德、面试策略、时间管理)，以便在他们离开壁画后很长一段时间内向他们灌输在任何行业取得成功的技术。在几个为少数群体服务的国家会议上的招聘工作，以及通过工程学院的多样性办公室与为少数群体服务的机构建立的伙伴关系，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的学生的长期结果。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 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.