REU Site: A Summer Experience for Undergraduates Integrating Research, Education, and Career Development in an Interdisciplinary Environment

位于堪萨斯州劳伦斯的堪萨斯大学(KU)获得了本科生研究体验(REU)现场奖，支持在2024-2026年夏季对10名学生进行为期10周的培训。在这个由化学系资助的项目中，学生们将参与以生物分析、绿色化学和可再生能源为重点的跨学科研究。该计划的智力标志是研究、专业发展和教育活动的协同整合。专业发展活动包括负责任地进行研究和小组讨论的培训，使参与者接触到工业、政府和/或学术界的博士化学家可用的职业道路。该计划将通过指导和培训来自全国各地主要是本科机构的学生来服务于更广泛的化学科学界，这些学生的研究机会本来就有限，并鼓励女性和传统上代表性较低的群体成员参与科学，包括残疾学生。参与者将从六个跨学科研究领域选择项目，从化学生物学、微流体学和质谱学到材料化学、能源和纳米科学、激光、光谱学和分子动力学。与会者可以选择的项目包括探索蛋白质-抗体相互作用，设计用于核废物修复的金属结合分子，使用合成模型化合物研究金属酶功能，探索催化剂结构在可再生燃料生产中的作用，以及通过计算方法揭示化学动力学的驱动力。学生将受益于KU大型化学社区提供的高度协作的环境，与教师和研究生(或博士后)导师的密切互动，最先进的设施，以及以书面和口头形式交流和传播他们的成就的机会。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 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site award to the University of Kansas (KU), located in Lawrence, KS, supports the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2024-2026. In this program, funded by the Division of Chemistry, the students will participate in interdisciplinary research that focuses on bioanalytics, green chemistry and renewable energy. The intellectual hallmark of the program is the synergistic integration of research, professional development, and educational activities. Professional development activities include training in the responsible conduct of research and panel discussions that expose the participants to career paths available to Ph.D. chemists in industry, government, and/or academia. The program will serve the broader chemical sciences community by mentoring and training students from primarily undergraduate institutions across the nation having otherwise limited opportunities for research experience, and by encouraging participation of women and members of traditionally underrepresented groups in the sciences, including students with disabilities.Participants will select projects from six interdisciplinary research areas ranging from chemical biology, microfluidics and mass spectrometry to materials chemistry, energy and nanoscience to lasers, spectroscopy and molecular dynamics. Selected projects available to participants will include probing protein-antibody interactions, design of metal-binding molecules for use in nuclear waste remediation, study of metalloenzyme function using synthetic model compounds, exploring the role of catalyst structure in production of renewable fuels, and uncovering driving forces for chemical dynamics via computational methods. Students will benefit from the highly collaborative environment provided by the large KU chemical community, close interactions with faculty and graduate student (or postdoctoral) mentors, state-of-the-art facilities, and opportunities to communicate and disseminate their accomplishments in written and oral forms.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.