Collaborative Research: Using the Physics of Living Systems Student Research Network to Transmit Techniques and Train Talent

生命系统物理学（PoLS）是一个多元化的领域，由来自不同科学背景的研究人员和学生组成。没有一个机构可以提供既涵盖相关知识领域又为学生提供深入培训的研究和课程的广度和深度。这种培训对于培养下一代能够为PoLS做出贡献的研究人员至关重要，他们能够在生物学，物理学，数学和工程学之间移动。此外，没有一个机构拥有在生物系统中遇到的巨大的时间和长度尺度上研究PoLS所需的设备范围。最后，很少有单一的机构能够将科学和工程有效地结合起来，激发生物医学，制药，机器人和假肢技术，这些技术将从基础PoLS研究中产生。该奖项的活动将允许学生在保持物理学思维（简化系统，少参数，预测模型）和开发新物理学的同时，跨机构和不同学科研究生命系统。NSF生命系统物理学（PoLS）学生研究网络（SRN）致力于团结在美国和国际机构（“节点”）从事生命系统物理学/生物物理学的学生和教师。这个虚拟网络使学生在本地节点的能力，以利用全球教育和研究机会PoLS。在最后一个供资期间，索马里国家网络的成员继续推进各自的PoLS方案，并发展了有凝聚力的地方社区。学生和教师还参加了SRN范围内的年度会议和美国物理学会（APS）三月会议，生物物理学会（BPS）会议和其他科学会议的活动。有了这个奖项，研究人员团队将开发一套集中的活动，将产生显着的互动和来自不同节点和POLS社区的学生之间的交流。该奖项的主要活动是在节点站点开发一套学生主导的实践短期课程（“实践PoLS暑期学校”）。短期课程将在每个节点每年夏天举行一周，并将培训SRN学生与专业和通用技术跨PoLS学科有用。每个节点将开发一套暑期学校课程，主题涵盖不同的研究兴趣和能力（例如，显微镜，机器物理学，图像分析），针对学生的所有节点和其他机构的SRN。该奖项将帮助短期课程的开发和赞助旅行支持。这些活动将通过本提案内各节点之间以及更广泛的iPOLS SRN内的研究交流访问得到加强。该奖项还将赞助旅行到不同的科学会议重要的学生的具体研究领域，以及获得对PoLS更广泛的视角。虽然这个SRN寻求与生物学，医学和其他相关学科保持联系并培养见解，但强大的SRN将有助于证明基本生命系统研究已经并将继续由物理学家完成。SRN的学生将成为下一代的研究人员和教育工作者，他们将继续这一轨迹。PoLS主题形成自然的招聘工具，为学生进入物理学以及兴趣更广泛的公众，劳动力和管理。SRN的活动和渴望的学生将利用这些优势，例如将这些想法传播到K-12机构，从而增加大学PoLS的学生流量。该奖项将通过举办研讨会来促进这些活动的协同作用，展示SRN校友的非学术职业，从而扩大了具有PoLS思维的研究人员群体。该项目的研究人员将继续其研究成果的商业化努力，将这一方面加入到美国PoLS“生态系统”中。该奖项反映了NSF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。

The Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) is a diverse field and is composed of researchers and students from varied scientific backgrounds. No single institution can offer the breadth and depth of research and courses that both cover the relevant intellectual landscape and provide in-depth training for students. Such training is critical to create the next generation of researchers who can contribute to PoLS, with the ability to move between biology, physics, mathematics, and engineering. In addition, no single institution has the range of equipment needed to study PoLS on the enormous range of time and length scales encountered in biological systems. Finally, few single institutions can fruitfully integrate science and engineering to inspire biomedical, pharmaceutical, robotic, and prosthetic technologies that will result from basic PoLS research. This award’s activities will allow students to work across institutions and among various disciplines on living systems while maintaining the physics mindset (simplified systems, few parameters, predictive models) and developing new physics. The NSF Physics of Living Systems (PoLS) Student Research Network (SRN) strives to unite students and faculty working on the physics of living systems/biological physics at institutions ("nodes") within the US and internationally. This virtual network gives students at local nodes the ability to take advantage of global educational and research opportunities in PoLS. During the last period of funding members of the SRN continued to advance their respective PoLS programs and developed cohesive local communities. Students and faculty also participated in the SRN-wide annual meetings and activities at the American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting, the Biophysical Society (BPS) meeting, and other scientific meetings. With this award, the team of investigators will develop a focused set of activities that will generate significant interactions and exchange between students from different nodes and the POLS community. The primary activity of this award is to develop a set of student-led, hands-on, short courses at node sites ("Hands-On PoLS Summer Schools"). Short courses will be held for a week each summer at each node and will train SRN students with both specialized and general techniques useful across PoLS disciplines. Each node will develop a suite of summer-school courses with themes that span different research interests and capabilities (e.g., microscopy, robophysics, image analysis), targeted for students from all nodes and other institutions in the SRN. This award will aid development of and sponsor travel support to the short courses. These activities will be augmented by research exchange visits among nodes within this proposal as well as in the broader iPOLS SRN. This award will also sponsor travel to diverse scientific meetings important to the student's specific research areas as well as to gain a broader perspective on PoLS. While this SRN seek to maintain ties to and cultivate insights from biology, medicine, and other relevant disciplines, a strong SRN will help demonstrate that fundamental living systems research has been and will continue to be done by physicists. The SRN students will be among the next generation of researchers and educators who will continue this trajectory. PoLS topics form natural recruitment vehicles for students into physics as well as interest the broader public, workforce, and administration. The SRN activities and eager students will leverage these strengths, for example disseminating such ideas to K-12 institutions, thereby increasing the flow of students into PoLS in universities. This award will promote to synergize these activities by running seminars showcasing SRN alumni with non-academic careers, thereby broadening the pool of researchers with the PoLS mindset. Investigators in this project will continue their commercialization efforts of technologies resulting from their research, adding this aspect to the US PoLS "ecosystem".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.