Summer Research Internship in Tissue Engineering

描述（由申请人提供）：匹兹堡组织工程倡议（PTEI）是这个R25奖的申请人，以支持组织工程（TE）研究的本科学院和大学生的暑期实习计划。PTEI是一个非营利组织，其使命是促进TE研究和教育的区域，国家和国际。六个主要的区域学术机构是PTEI的成员，并为TE的研究和开发提供场所。PTEI通过种子研究赠款和教育计划支持这些组织，包括大学本科生暑期实习计划（SIP）。 PTEI SIP始于1997年。它长达10周。过去五年中，每年的实习生人数分别为11、18、21、18和17人，视可用资金而定。在最初的四年里，所有的津贴和其他项目费用都是由宾夕法尼亚州西南部地区的基金会提供的。在2001年和即将到来的2002年方案中，有六个职位得到了美国教育部改善中学后教育基金的赠款支持。学生在实习期间是PTEI员工。 导师是从六个成员组成的学术机构中选出的，其依据是学生感兴趣的领域与导师的专业知识之间的对应关系。SIP在毕业日达到高潮，在此期间，实习生对他们的工作进行口头和海报介绍，并获得结业证书。与会者包括实习生，他们的直系亲属，他们的研究导师，PPEI董事会成员和行政人员，以及其他感兴趣的研究人员。2001年，一位美国参议员出席了会议，并以他的名义向一位实习生颁发了一个奖项，以表彰他作为本科生获得的杰出奖学金和社区服务。 此外，还包括在负责任的研究行为，与其他暑期项目的实习生建立联系，以及参加文化和体育活动的机会所需的指令。学校改善计划在鼓励参加者修读研究生课程方面相当成功，例如：11名前实习生正在医学院就读，8人在匹兹堡，另有5人被医学院录取。平均而言，过去的实习生中有29%是定量/物理科学专业的学生-R25奖将使PTEI能够将这一比例提高一倍，并通过专门针对定量/物理科学专业来增加班级规模。根据SIP的跟踪记录，这些学生中的许多人将被吸引到生物医学，生物技术和TE进行进一步的培训和职业选择。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative (PTEI) is the applicant for this R25 Award to support a Summer Internship Program for undergraduate college and university students in Tissue Engineering (TE) research. PTEI is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster TE research and education regionally, nationally, and internationally. Six major regional academic institutions are members of PTEI and provide the venues for TE research and development. PTEI supports these organizations through seed research grants and educational programs, including its college undergraduate Summer Internship Program (SIP). The PTEI SIP began in 1997. It is 10 weeks long. The number of interns in each of the past five years has been 11, 18, 21, 18, and 17, respectively, determined by available funding. For the first four years, alI stipends and other program costs were supported by regional southwestern Pennsylvania foundations. For 2001 and the upcoming 2002 program, six positions are supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. Students are PTEI employees during their internships. Mentors are chosen from the six-member academic institutions, based on the correspondence between the student's area of interest and the mentor's expertise. The SIP culminates in a Graduation Day, during which the interns give both oral and poster presentations of their work and receive certificates of completion. Attendees include the interns, their immediate families, their research mentors, PTEI Board members and administrative staff, and other interested researchers. In 2001, a U.S. Senator attended, and an award was presented in his name to an intern for outstanding scholarship and community service as an undergraduate. Also included are required instruction in the responsible conduct of research, networking with interns in other summer programs, and opportunities to attend cultural and sports events. The SIP has been quite successful in encouraging participants to pursue postgraduate education; e.g., 11 former interns are attending medical school, 8 in Pittsburgh, and 5 more have been accepted to medical school. On average, 29% of past interns have been quantitative/physical science majors--an R25 Award will allow PTEI to double this percentage and increase class size by specifically targeting quantitative/physical science majors. Based on the track record of the SIP, many of these students will be attracted to biomedicine, biotechnology, and TE for further training and career choices.