IGERT: Biological and Bio-inspired Motion Systems Operating in Complex Environments

这个综合研究生教育和研究培训（IGERT）计划将培养生物学和工程学学生从自然设计中学习-这一过程称为生物灵感。特别是，学员将发现生物体如何在复杂环境中移动的基本原理，并学习使用这些原理作为设计人类工程系统的灵感。研究机会的四个重点领域包括迁移系统的力学，它们的控制机制，它们的材料的结构和功能，以及它们的进化。一个三阶段的培训计划与研究重点相结合，并由一个新的伯克利中心- CiBER -教育和研究跨学科生物灵感中心提供便利。第一阶段提供定制的核心课程，以开发通用的科学语言，并发现为生物和生物启发运动系统做出贡献并从中受益的机会。学员将参加一个新的以研究为基础的教学实验室，在那里，生物和工程专业的学生团队共同努力，做出原创的生物力学发现。这一经验过渡到他们进入第二阶段，他们开始研究轮换和国际经验，在领先的欧洲研究所的指导下，“仿生学”网络。在第三阶段，学生通过创业课程和实习学习发现的应用。为不同的本科生群体开发直接渠道将鼓励妇女和代表性不足的群体参与。IGERT的学员将通过研究推动运动科学领域的发展，这些研究可能从未被工程师考虑过，例如壁虎启发的毛茸茸的粘合剂，人造肌肉，新的假肢和搜索和救援机器人。通过与公众分享这些进展，非科学家将更清楚地看到为什么我们必须保护物种及其环境的多样性--在它们的秘密永远消失之前。IGERT是一个NSF范围内的计划，旨在满足教育美国博士的挑战。具有跨学科背景的科学家和工程师，在所选学科的深厚知识，以及未来职业需求所需的技术，专业和个人技能。该计划旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训新模式，在超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中促进研究生教育的文化变革。

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program will train biology and engineering students to learn from natural design - a process termed biological inspiration. In particular, trainees will discover principles that underlie how organisms move in complex environments, and learn to use those principles as inspiration to design human-engineered systems. Four focus areas for research opportunities include the mechanics of systems that locomote, their control mechanisms, the structure and function of their materials, and their evolution. A three-stage training program integrates with the research focus and is facilitated by a new Berkeley center - CiBER - the Center for interdisciplinary Biological-inspiration in Education and Research. Stage 1offers a customized core curriculum to develop a common scientific language, and to discover opportunities to contribute to and benefit from bio- and bio-inspired motion systems. Trainees will participate in a new research-based teaching laboratory where teams of biology and engineering students work together to make original biomechanical discoveries. This experience transitions them into Stage 2 where they begin research rotations and international experiences at leading European institutes guided by a "Bionics" network. In Stage 3, students learn the application of discovery through entrepreneurship courses and internships. Developing direct pipelines to a diverse group of undergraduates will encourage participation of women and underrepresented groups. Trainees in this IGERT will advance the field of motion science with research leading to novel inventions that may never have been considered by engineers such as gecko-inspired hairy adhesives, artificial muscles, new prostheses, and search-and-rescue robots. By sharing these advances with the public, non-scientists will see more clearly why we must preserve the diversity of species and their environments - before their secrets are lost forever. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, 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 innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.