Biomolecular Materials: Structure, Phase Behavior, and Interactions

这个结合实验和理论的项目是在软凝聚态物理领域。 该研究将探索丝状细胞骨架蛋白及其相关生物分子的超分子组装中的相，结构和相互作用。 这些实验的重要性在于它们有可能揭示带电生物聚合物之间全新吸引力的起源，这可能导致物质的新状态或排列。 该项目将阐明带电聚合物的物理学，这构成了一组技术上重要的工业材料。 该计划培养研究生在国家的最先进的技术需要解决复杂的多学科问题在物理，工程，化学和生物学之间的接口。 该研究包括在国家同步加速器X射线实验室的结构表征和激光扫描共聚焦显微镜的内部成像。 这将为学生提供研究环境中的培训，其中物理，工程，化学和生物学之间的传统学科界限已被删除，并强调团队合作和解决问题。 这将帮助学生在企业，工业或政府的职业生涯中处理和解决复杂的技术问题。这个结合实验和理论的项目是在软凝聚态物理领域。 该研究的重点是生产和表征当生物聚合物（例如蛋白质）聚集在一起形成尺寸在十亿分之一米到千分之一米之间的新结构时获得的新材料。 这种尺寸范围内的新“复合”材料可在分子化学传感器、分离和纯化技术用分子筛以及化学和药物输送载体等领域中具有技术应用。 该项目是高度跨学科的，使研究生接触到广泛的技术。 其中包括国家同步加速器X射线实验室利用同步加速器X射线衍射进行的最先进的结构表征，以及利用尖端光学和电子显微镜进行的内部成像。 这个跨学科项目的教育意义和影响，在物理，工程，化学和生物学之间的接口，是在培养学生对解决问题的广阔前景。 他们不仅在学术环境中有价值，而且在需要和奖励跨学科研究的工业和政府工作队伍中也有价值。

This combined experiment and theory project is in the area of soft condensed matter physics. The research will explore phases, structures, and interactions, in supramolecular assemblies of filamentous cytoskeletal proteins and their associated biomolecules. The importance of the experiments lies in their potential to uncover the origin of fundamentally new attractive forces between charged biological polymers, which can lead to new states or arrangements of matter. The project should shed light on the physics of charged polymers, which constitute a group of technologically important industrial materials. The program trains graduate students in state-of-the-art techniques required to address complex multidisciplinary problems at the interface between physics, engineering, chemistry, and biology. The research includes structure characterization at National Synchrotron X-ray Laboratories and in-house imaging with laser-scanning confocal microscopy. This will provide student training in research settings where traditional discipline boundaries between physics, engineering, chemistry, and biology, have been removed, and teamwork and problem solving are emphasized. This will prepare the students to tackle and solve complex technological problems in their careers in academe, industry, or government.This combined experiment and theory project is in the area of soft condensed matter physics. The research focuses on producing and characterizing novel materials that are obtained when biological polymers (e.g. proteins) are brought together to form new structures with dimensions between one-billionth of a meter and one-thousandths of a meter. New "composite" materials in this size range can have technological applications in areas such as molecular-based chemical sensors, molecular sieves for separations and purification technologies, and chemical and drug delivery vehicles. The project is highly interdisciplinary and exposes graduate students to a broad spectrum of techniques. These include state-of-the-art structure characterization with synchrotron x-ray diffraction at National Synchrotron X-ray Laboratories, and in-house imaging with cutting edge optical and electron microscopes. The educational significance and impact of this interdisciplinary project, at the interface between physics, engineering, chemistry, and biology, is in the training of students with a broad outlook toward problem solving. They will be valuable not only in academic settings, but also in the industrial and government job force where interdisciplinary research is required and rewarded.