Equipment: MRI: Track #1 Acquisition of an Orbitrap Eclipse Tribrid Mass Spectrometer

授予新罕布什尔州大学（UNH）获得Orbitrap Eclipse LC-MS系统，以（i）显著提高质谱（MS）能力并加快不同领域的研究项目，（ii）促进现代仪器的实践培训和基于探究的学习，以及（iii）建立区域高分辨率MS设施。配备了更多的最新技术，拟议的Eclipse LC-MS系统将能够进行深入的，结论性的蛋白质组学分析，具有理想的灵敏度和通量。这种新的仪器将服务于26个研究项目，作为来自11个部门和3个学院的主要用户，汇集了不同的研究人员。合作项目的高度跨学科性质将为研究科学家/博士后，研究生和本科生提供充分的实践培训机会。此外，UNH夏季MS研讨会和为期一学期的MS课程将为UNH的研究生和本科生以及新罕布什尔州，缅因州和佛蒙特州的至少14所其他学院和大学提供扩展的研究培训，为区域STEM教育和劳动力发展做出贡献。UNH的学生人口中有55%是女性，30%是第一代学生。新罕布什尔州（NH）总人口略高于130万，拥有大量农村人口。研究可以改变学生的生活体验，特别是那些来自低收入人口和农村地区的学生。这些学生将有机会接受最先进仪器的培训，并实现他们攻读高级技术学位的潜力。此外，随着UNH分子细胞技术和生物信息学专业硕士课程的不断发展，所要求的Eclipse LC-MS系统将在发展未来的STEM劳动力和支持NH州以及北方新英格兰地区的可持续经济增长方面产生重大影响。相关研究项目的成果还将在开发新能源和生物工程材料、阐明疾病病因和治疗靶点、保护环境和野生动物、开垦土壤和自然资源、改善农业实践以及加强食品和营养管理等方面带来直接的社会影响。支持的研究涵盖生物学、化学、生态学、在UNH和北方新英格兰的生物医学工程项目。这些项目将产生重要的生物学见解，以了解视觉传导，干细胞转分化和组织工程，微生物，植物和环境之间的相互作用，转录调节和染色质结构，神经元纤毛和造血祖细胞的信号转导，表观遗传调节和行为可塑性，蛋白质折叠和蛋白质组稳态。高质量的MS数据将阐明关键的调控因子、修饰、相互作用、结构构象以及信号分子和网络，这将彻底改变研究计划，并在理解过程中实现突破，否则将无法实现。所要求的仪器还将有助于开发太阳能燃料生产中的新型试剂，以及设计和开发生物传感器和飞秒流电喷雾电离源的使能技术和平台。这些有影响力的项目需要MS仪器-配备当前的现代技术-作为关键的研究工具。通过联合国人居署与区域生物技术和制药公司之间的积极合作，将在制造用于个人和保健的特殊成分、表征抗菌天然产品以及了解宿主-微生物相互作用和对环境压力的代谢组学反应方面出现新的知识和改进的做法。总之，在MS实验能力，灵敏度和吞吐量的显着改善，目前UNH仪器将迅速扩大MS和现代仪器的应用到各种研究学科在UNH和beyond.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是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的支持。

An award is made to the University of New Hampshire (UNH) to acquire an Orbitrap Eclipse LC-MS system to (i) dramatically improve mass spectrometry (MS) capacity and expedite research projects in diverse fields, (ii) facilitate hands-on training and inquiry-based learning on modern instrumentation, and (iii) establish a regional high-resolution MS facility. Equipped with more current technologies, the proposed Eclipse LC-MS system will enable in-depth, conclusive proteomics analysis with desirable sensitivity and throughput. This new instrumentation will serve 26 research programs as major users from 11 departments and 3 colleges, bringing together a diverse group of researchers. The highly interdisciplinary nature of the collaborative projects will provide ample hands-on training opportunities for research scientists/post-docs, graduate students, and undergraduate students on cutting-edge MS technologies. In addition, a UNH summer MS workshop and a semester-long MS course will provide expanded research training for graduate and undergraduate students at UNH as well as at least 14 other colleges and universities in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, contributing to regional STEM education and workforce development. The student population at UNH is 55% female and 30% first-generation students. With a total population of just over 1.3 million, New Hampshire (NH) has a significant rural population. Research can be a life-changing experience for students, especially those from low-income demographics and rural areas. These students will have the opportunity to train with state-of-the-art instrumentation and realize their potential to pursue an advanced technical degree. Furthermore, as the UNH professional master’s programs in Molecular & Cellular Technology and Bioinformatic continue to grow, the requested Eclipse LC-MS system will make a significant impact in developing a future STEM workforce and supporting sustainable economic growth in the state of NH as well as the northern New England region. Results from involved research projects will also bring direct societal impacts in developing new energy sources and bioengineering materials, elucidating disease etiology and therapeutic targets, protecting environment and wildlife, reclaiming soil and natural resources, improving agriculture practice, and enhancing food and nutrition management.The research that will be supported encompasses a broad range of biology, chemistry, ecology, and biomedical engineering-based projects at UNH and in northern New England. Essential biological insights will be generated from these projects towards mechanistic understanding of visual transduction, stem cell trans-differentiation and tissue engineering, interactions among microbes, plants and the environment, transcription regulation and chromatin structure, signal transduction in neuronal cilia and hematopoietic progenitors, epigenetic regulation and behavioral plasticity, protein folding and proteome homeostasis. High-quality MS data will elucidate key regulators, modifications, interactions, structure conformations, and signaling molecules and networks, which will revolutionize research programs and enables breakthroughs in understanding processes that would have otherwise been inaccessible. The requested instrumentation will also aid in the development of novel reagents in solar fuel production, as well as the design and development of enabling technologies and platforms of biosensor and femto-flow electrospray ionization sources. These impactful projects require MS instrumentation - equipped with current, modern technologies - as a critical research tool. Through active collaborations between UNH and regional biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, new knowledge and improved practice will emerge in manufacturing specialty ingredients used in personal and health care, in characterizing antimicrobial natural products, and in understanding host-microbe interactions and metabolomic responses towards environmental stressors. In summary, significant improvements in MS experimental capacities, sensitivity, and throughput over current UNH instrumentation will rapidly expand the application of MS and modern instrumentation into a variety of research disciplines at UNH and beyond.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.