"Undergraduate Research Participation: Collaborative Cross Disciplinary Research in Biology"

该奖项为在波士顿大学生物系为10名学生建立NSF-REU站点项目提供资金。过去的经验表明，美国国家科学基金会对本科生研究的奖励激励了许多以前的参与者成为富有成效的学者。六个跨学科的，以团队为导向的项目将为每组两名学生提供与两位经验丰富的教师导师在一个共同项目上密切合作的机会。REU网站项目的重点是促进学生和研究生物学家之间的研究互动，这些研究生物学家的学科传统上专注于生物学的不同子学科。合作研究课题包括：重金属摄取对角鲨生殖的影响，发育过程中神经递质的调节，环境诱导突变的选择强度，濒危物种细胞系的建立，圈养蝙蝠的肾上腺皮质活性，视网膜细胞基因诱导机制。教师导师是根据他们在课堂上的经验、与本科生的研究接触以及他们自己的研究贡献精心挑选的。参与的教师导师具有广泛的研究兴趣，并由初学者和已建立的研究者代表。合格的本科生将主要从不提供重要研究机会的地区四年制学院和波士顿大学招募。该项目将从当地和地区大学招收五名学生，从波士顿大学招收五名学生。招生工作将特别针对少数民族、女性和身体有缺陷的学生。选择程序将基于学术能力，研究潜力和以前的经验。学生将住在大学校园，并参与各种研究机会，每周讨论和社交聚会，以培养学生和教师导师之间的社区意识。一个特殊的伦理部分将侧重于诸如科学诚信标准、作者责任、信息隐私和保护、动物的伦理待遇、替代动物模型、利益冲突和抄袭等问题。

This award provides funds to establish an NSF-REU Sites project in the Department of Biology at Boston University for ten students. Past experience has shown that NSF awards for undergraduate research have stimulated many previous participants to become productive scholars. Six cross- disciplinary, team-oriented projects will provide each group of two students with the opportunity to work closely with two experienced faculty mentors on a common project. The emphasis on the REU site project is to promote research interactions between students and research biologists whose disciplines are traditionally focused on different sub- disciplines in Biology. Collaborative research topics include: the effects of heavy metal uptake on reproduction in dogfish shark, regulation of neurotransmitters during development, intensity of selection in environmentally induced mutations, establishment of cell lines from endangered species, adrenocortical activity in captive bats, and mechanisms of gene induction in retinal cells. Faculty mentors have been carefully selected on the basis of their experience in the classroom, research contacts with undergraduates, and their own research contributions. The participating faculty mentors have a broad spectrum of research interests and are represented by both beginning and establish investigators. Qualified undergraduates will be recruited mostly form regional four-year colleges that do not provide significant opportunities for research and from Boston University. The Program will recruit five students from local and regional colleges and five from Boston University. Recruitment efforts will specifically target minority, women, and physically challenged students. Selection procedures will be based on scholarly aptitude, research potential, and previous experience. Students will be expected to live on the university campus and to participate in the full range of research opportunities, weekly discussions, and social gatherings to foster a sense of community among students and faculty mentors. A special ethics component will focus on issues such as standards of scientific integrity, authorship responsibility, information privacy and protection, ethical treatment of animals, alternative animal models, conflict of interest, and plagiarism.