IGERT: Optical Biomolecular Devices: From Natural Paradigms to Practical Applications

这IGERT汇集了亚利桑那州立大学的光合作用和光生物学与其他两个主要的研究推力在校园内著名的基础研究计划：在固态电子研究中心的纳米结构研究小组和生物工程推力在工程学院由新成立的生物工程系领导。 研究主题是基于光生物学原理的分子尺度器件的设计和制造。 这一努力代表了当前NSF资助的RTG培训计划在这一领域的重大扩展，将教育和研究重点转向应用领域，包括来自四个工程系和物理系的新教师以及摩托罗拉，洛克希德/马丁，柯达，QTL，CEA-Saclay，Max Planck-Muelheim和格拉斯哥大学的几个工业和国际合作伙伴。 为了形成这些不同学科之间的综合研究生教育计划，IGERT包括创建博士学位。重点计划，将规范跨学院的课程要求。 行业也将通过科学合作、学生实习和课堂讨论发挥重要作用。IGERT课程包括一系列以研究和发现为基础的学习课程。 学生将通过利用广泛的动态资源基础设施来解决问题，该基础设施包括设备齐全的仪器设施，包括新的生物混合制造设施和高水平人员。 此外，该计划包括在科学政策，科学伦理和社会影响的主要教育推力，最终在科学，政策和成果中心在华盛顿DC为期两周的研讨会。 在这里，学生将有机会考虑在分子器件领域的研究和开发将对社会产生的影响，并听取谁考虑了这个不断扩大的科学领域的伦理和政治方面的学者的想法。 学生还将有机会参加国外的研究，并在亚利桑那州立大学研究生院运行的“准备未来的教师”或“准备未来的专业人士”计划。 最后，ASU校园内的三个IGERT将在研究生院院长管理的上层建筑内进行协调。 这将促进招聘和评估的共同机制，并为IGERT教师和学生之间的信息交流提供正式渠道。 ASU IGERTs之间的这种更大规模的整合应该会导致跨学科研究生教育的实用模式，可以在ASU和其他地方的未来使用。IGERT是一个NSF范围内的计划，旨在满足教育博士的挑战。科学家和工程师与多学科背景和技术，专业和个人技能所需的未来的职业需求。该计划旨在通过建立新的，创新的研究生教育和培训模式，促进研究生教育的文化变革，为超越传统学科界限的合作研究创造肥沃的环境。在该计划的第四年，该奖项将颁发给22个机构，这些机构的计划共同涵盖了NSF支持的所有科学和工程领域。这个特殊奖项的知识焦点位于生物科学局;工程;数学和物理科学;教育和人力资源。

This IGERT brings together Arizona State University's well known basic research program in photosynthesis and photobiology with two other major research thrusts on campus: the Nanostructures Research Group in the Center for Solid State Electronics Research and the Bioengineering thrust within the Engineering College led by the newly formed Bioengineering Department. The research theme is the design and fabrication of molecular-scale devices based on the principles learned from photobiology. This effort represents a major expansion of the current NSF funded RTG training program in this area, shifting the educational and research focus towards the applied realm by including new faculty from four Engineering Departments and Physics as well as several industrial and international partners at Motorola, Lockheed/Martin, Kodak, QTL, CEA-Saclay, Max Planck-Muelheim, and the University of Glasgow. In order to form an integrated graduate education program between these different disciplines, the IGERT includes the creation of a Ph.D. emphasis program that will normalize the curriculum requirements across colleges. Industry will also play a major role through scientific collaborations, student internships and classroom discussion. The IGERT curriculum includes a series of courses that center on research and discovery based learning. Students will solve problems by drawing on an extensive dynamic resource infrastructure that includes both well-equipped instrument facilities, including a new biohybrid fabrication facility, and high level personnel. In addition, the program includes a major educational thrust in science policy, science ethics, and societal impact, culminating in a two week workshop at the Center for Science, Policy and Outcomes in Washington DC. Here students will have the opportunity to consider the impact that research and development in the molecular device area will have on society and to hear the thoughts of scholars who have considered the ethical and political aspects of this expanding area of science. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in research abroad and in the "Preparing Future Faculty" or "Preparing Future Professionals" programs run by the ASU Graduate College. Finally, the three IGERTs on the ASU campus will be coordinated within a superstructure run by the Dean of the Graduate College. This will facilitate common mechanisms for recruiting and evaluation, and provide a formal avenue for information exchange between IGERT faculty and students. This larger scale integration among the ASU IGERTs should result in a practical model of interdisciplinary graduate education that can be used in the future both at ASU and elsewhere. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing new, innovative models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the fourth year of the program, awards are being made to twenty-two institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. The intellectual foci of this specific award reside in the Directorates for Biological Sciences; Engineering; Mathematical and Physical Sciences; and Education and Human Resources.