MRI: Acquisition of a Zeiss LSM900 Confocal Microscope with Airyscan 2 to Accelerate Multidisciplinary Research and Training

纽约城市大学皇后学院被授予为成像、细胞和分子生物学核心设施购买蔡司LSM 900共焦显微镜和AiryScan的奖项。在培养本科生的机构中，迫切需要支持教职员工和学生的研究生产力，这些本科生将成为下一代科学家和懂科学的公民。使这些机构的教师能够继续从事其专业知识的科学领域，确保学生教育和培训充满活力、受欢迎和相关。小的实验室小组促进指导关系，并以补充大小组所取得的成果的方式促进科学知识。该项目将支持对皇后学院学生和实习生群体产生积极影响的活动，并加强邻近机构的科学基础设施。皇后学院的学生、教职员工和管理人员都是种族多元化的。他们长期致力于向未得到充分服务的人群提供服务。收购蔡司LSM 900共焦显微镜将增强教员的专业知识。研究成果将在研讨会和同行评议的出版物中传播。最先进的显微镜将为高水平的本科生、硕士和博士生设计和实施一门新的显微镜课程。该项目将通过与现有的大学项目合作，加强代表不足群体的STEM外联活动，这些项目旨在促进代表不足的学生获得STEM的机会和对STEM的兴趣。来自显微镜的图像将用于教师的公共推广活动，包括推特推广和指导高中生。蔡司LSM 900共焦显微镜与Airycan之所以被选中，是因为它的特定功能满足了教师研究计划所需的细胞成像挑战，其用户界面和软件与该机构的其他设备相似，以及其灵活性，以满足随着研究计划的增长、新教师的招聘和合作形成的预期未来需求。该仪器将被安置在成像、细胞和分子生物学多用户核心设施中，并将加强校园内日益增长的多学科科学研究，并丰富这一少数群体服务机构的本科生和研究生培训。核心设施为包括皇后学院生物、化学和生物化学、地球和环境科学、物理和心理学系的实验室在内的用户提供服务。研究活动将包括研究正常发育和生理中的细胞信号，对抗衰老和癌症的细胞防御机制，基因表达的调节，学习的神经机制，以及慢性疼痛对大脑的影响。该仪器将使皇后学院的教职员工能够进行尖端研究，并对本科生和研究生进行定性和定量荧光成像方面的培训，这将加强他们在生物科学领域的教育和准备。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。

An award is made to Queens College of The City University of New York for the purchase of a Zeiss LSM 900 Confocal Microscope with Airyscan for the Core Facility for Imaging, Cell, and Molecular Biology. There is a critical need to support faculty and student research productivity at institutions that educate undergraduate students who will become the next generation of scientists and science-literate citizens. Enabling faculty at these institutions to remain engaged in their scientific fields of expertise ensures that student education and training is vibrant, welcoming, and relevant. Small laboratory groups facilitate mentoring relationships and contribute to scientific knowledge in ways that are complementary to those achieved in larger groups. This project will support activities that will positively impact the student and trainee populations at Queens College and enhance the scientific infrastructure for neighboring institutions. Queens College students, faculty, and administrators are ethnically diverse. They have a long-standing commitment to providing access to underserved populations. The acquisition of a Zeiss LSM 900 confocal microscope will enhance the faculty’s expertise. Research results will be disseminated in seminars and peer-reviewed publications. The state-of-the-art microscope will enable the design and execution of a new microscopy course for upper-level undergraduates, master’s and doctoral students. This project will strengthen STEM outreach activities of underrepresented groups through collaboration with existing college programs that aim to promote access to and interest in STEM for underrepresented students. Images from the microscope will be used in the public outreach activities of the faculty, which include Twitter outreach, and mentoring high school students.The Zeiss LSM 900 Confocal Microscope with Airyscan was selected for its specific features that meet the challenges of cellular imaging required by the faculty’s research programs, for the similarity of its user interface and software with other equipment at the institution, and for its flexibility to meet anticipated future needs as research programs grow, new faculty are hired, and collaborations are formed. The instrument will be housed in the multi-user Core Facility for Imaging, Cell and Molecular Biology and will enhance the growing multidisciplinary scientific research on campus and enrich undergraduate and graduate student training at this minority-serving institution. The Core Facility serves users that include laboratories in the Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Physics, and Psychology Departments at Queens College. Research activities will include investigations on cell signaling in normal development and physiology, cell defense mechanisms against aging and cancer, regulation of gene expression, neural mechanisms of learning, and the effects of chronic pain on the brain. The instrument will enable Queens College’s faculty to conduct cutting edge research and train undergraduates and graduate students in qualitative and quantitative fluorescent imaging, which will enhance their education and preparation for future careers in the biological sciences.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.