REU Site: Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research on Bioenergy Crops: Feedstock Development, Bioprocessing and Sustainable Agriculture

南达科他州立大学已获奖，该大学将在2010-2012年夏季为10名学生提供为期10周的研究培训。跨学科的REU网站将允许化学、生物和工程专业的本科生学习研究技能，并参与与生物燃料和生物能源相关的独特研究体验。生物能源不仅是科学和工程领域的一个新兴领域，对美国经济有着深远的影响，而且它也是多学科研究的优秀培训基地。该计划围绕三个重点领域展开：原料开发和生产、生物加工和环境可持续性。学生将积极参与代表最先进的生物能源研究的所有项目，从原料基因组学到生物加工的新技术和将生物能源作物转化为生物燃料，再到农业作物生产的生态和环境可持续性。这些学生将与来自5个不同系(生物学和微生物学、农业工程、植物科学、化学和野生动物)的教师一起合作，开展关于生物能源的积极研究项目。为了加强学习体验，学生们将招待高中生参加为期两天的项目，并让他们参与研究活动。对行业合作伙伴的实地考察将使学生了解生物能源行业的潜在职业。针对科学道德和不当行为的伦理部分，以及关于科学写作、科学中的女性和环境正义的研讨会将为学生们完成这一计划。该计划鼓励来自不同背景的学生在全国范围内申请。学生将根据他们的成绩单和研究兴趣进行选择。参与者将被要求写一份最终报告，并在10周结束时在校园范围内举行的生物能源研讨会上展示他们的发现。形成性和终结性评估，包括BIO REU项目使用的通用网络工具，将用于确定学生在项目开始时对S的期望，以及他们在项目结束后的经历。有关该计划和申请的问题，请联系海克·比金(heike.Bucking@sdstate.edu)或何塞·L·冈萨雷斯(jose.Gonzalez@sdstate.edu)，或访问网页：http://biomicro.sdstate.edu/reu_bioenergy/.

An award has been made to South Dakota State University that will provide research training for 10 weeks for 10 students, during the summers 2010-2012. The interdisciplinary REU site will allow undergraduate students in chemistry, biology, and engineering to learn research skills and to participate in unique research experiences related to biofuels and bioenergy. Bioenergy is not only an emergent area in science and engineering with profound implications for the U.S. economy, but it is also an excellent training ground in multidisciplinary research. The program is structured around three focal areas: feedstock development and production, bioprocessing, and environmental sustainability. The students will actively get involved in projects representing the whole spectrum of state of the art bioenergy research from feedstock genomics, to new technologies in bioprocessing and the conversion of bioenergy crops into biofuels, to ecological and environmental sustainability of agricultural crop production. The students will work together with faculty mentors from 5 different departments (Biology and Microbiology, Agricultural Engineering, Plant Science, Chemistry, and Wildlife) with active research programs on bioenergy. To strengthen the learning experience, the students will host high school students for a 2 day program, and will involve them in their research activities. Field trips to industry partners will allow students to learn about potential careers in the bioenergy industry. An ethics component that addresses scientific ethics and misconduct, and workshops about scientific writing, women in the sciences, and environmental justice will round off the program for the students. The program encourages nationwide applications from students from diverse backgrounds. Students will be selected according to their transcripts and research interests. Participants will be required to write a final report as well as present their findings at a campus-wide bioenergy symposium at the end of the 10 weeks. Formative and summative evaluations, including a common web-based tool used by the BIO REU program, will be used to determine the student´s expectations at the start of the program, and their experiences after the program. For questions about the program, and the application, please contact Heike Bücking (heike.bucking@sdstate.edu) or José L. Gonzalez (jose.gonzalez@sdstate.edu) or visit the web page at: http://biomicro.sdstate.edu/reu_bioenergy/.