MRI: Acquisition of a super-resolution microscope for Boston College

波士顿学院获奖，以支持购买超分辨率结构照明显微镜，该显微镜将由生物、化学、物理和心理学系的研究人员共享。这笔助学金中的每一位合作PI每年都会培训多名本科生，这些本科生将从使用超分辨率显微镜的经验中受益匪浅。此外，该显微镜还将作为一个通用的培训和招聘平台，以吸引更多来自不同背景的本科生进入生命科学。具体来说，显微镜将通过每年招收24名学生的高级细胞成像课程直接纳入本科课程。此外，显微镜将被纳入该系教职员工开展的许多推广活动中，包括代表不足的学生研究日和女性科技计划。最后，与韦尔斯利学院启动了一项合作，这是一所竞争激烈的女性学院，该学院将可以使用这种显微镜进行研究项目，并将在课程中包括每年培训12名女性的现代生物成像课程。因此，丰富一般的本科培训，特别是针对女性和代表性不足的群体，是该仪器的主要功能。超分辨率显微镜对当今的细胞生物学研究至关重要。这一事实在国际会议上的整场会议上都得到了强调，例如致力于这项技术的美国细胞生物学学会年会，以及如果没有超分辨率显微镜的空间分辨率，就不可能有大量的手稿。波士顿学院拥有一大批细胞生物学家，以及设备齐全、由大学资助的成像设备。超分辨率显微镜功能的增加将扩大可以提出的问题，以及可以解决的问题的深度。此外，它还将成为招聘新教师、博士后研究员和研究生的工具。总而言之，超分辨率能力是必要的，不仅是为了推动今天的基于细胞的研究，也是为了适当地培训未来的科学家。波士顿学院的SR-SIM系统将最大限度地实现这两个目标，并将另外用作一种工具，发展许多地区机构的教职员工和学生之间的合作。

An award is made to Boston College to support the acquisition of a Super-Resolution Structured Illumination Microscope that will be shared by researchers in the Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Psychology departments. Each of the co-PIs on this grant trains multiple undergraduates every year, and these undergraduates will benefit dramatically from experience using a super-resolution microscope. Furthermore, this microscope will be used as a general training and recruitment platform to draw more undergraduates from diverse backgrounds into life-science. Specifically, the microscope will be directly incorporated into the undergraduate curriculum via the Advanced Cellular Imaging Course which enrolls 24 students annually. Additionally, the microscope will be incorporated into many outreach efforts run by faculty in the department including Research Day for Under-represented Students and the Women in Science and Technology Program. Finally, a collaboration has been initiated with Wellesley College, a highly competitive college for women, which will have access to this microscope for research projects, and will include in the class Modern Biological Imaging, which trains 12 women every year. Thus, enrichment of undergraduate training in general, and for women and under-represented groups specifically, is a primary function of this instrument.Super-resolution microscopy is crucial to cell biological research today. This fact is highlighted by entire sessions at international meetings such as the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting being devoted to the technique, and by the volume of manuscripts that would not be possible without the spatial resolution made possible by super-resolution microscopy. Boston College has a critical mass of cell biologists, and a well-equipped, University-funded, imaging facility. The addition of Super-Resolution Microscopy capabilities will expand the questions that can be asked, and the depth to which questions can be addressed. Furthermore, it will be a tool for the recruitment of new faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. In conclusion, super-resolution capabilities are necessary, not only to drive cell based research today, but to properly train future scientists. The SR-SIM system at Boston College will be maximized for both goals and will additionally be used as a tool to develop collaborations between faculty and students at a number of area institutions.