REU Site: Membrane Biochemistry and Bioinspired Synthesis

这项本科生研究经验（REU）网站奖授予位于马萨诸塞州伍斯特的伍斯特理工学院，在2020-2022年夏季期间为10名学生提供为期10周的研究和专业发展。该网站由数学和物理科学理事会化学部资助，吸引学生参与与膜化学和生物启发合成有关的研究项目。学生参与研究过程的各个方面，从项目构思、执行、故障排除到结果的解释和传播。学生还参加职业发展系列研讨会，教他们如何计划、执行和交流研究，并为他们提供适当的研究行为和道德方面的培训。来自行业的演讲者向学生介绍不同的职业道路，REU的学生参观了一家大型制药公司的研究和生产设施。职业发展课程的最后一个环节是研究生入学和研究生学位选择概述。参与者可以选择来自具有互补专业知识的研究小组的单个reu学生/单个教师或多个reu学生/多个教师项目，这向学生展示了合作研究的价值。这些项目涉及药物化学、药物输送系统、脂质代谢和膜蛋白表征等一般领域。一旦被录取，学生将与他们的导师团队进行虚拟会面，以了解情况，讨论项目目标，并制定研究计划。这使学生能够完全掌握自己的项目，并在暑期课程开始后立即专注于实验室研究。夏季研究经历在本科生研究会议上达到高潮，被选中的学生有机会在ACS春季会议上展示他们的研究成果。最终，这个网站培养了一群来自两年制和四年制大学的学生，使他们成为化学科学领域全面发展的成员。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site award to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, located in Worcester, MA, supports 10 students for 10 weeks of research and professional development during the summers 2020–2022. This site, funded by the Division of Chemistry in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate, engages students in research projects related to membrane chemistry and bioinspired synthesis. Students participate in all aspects of the research process, from project conception, execution, and troubleshooting to interpretation and dissemination of results. Students also take part in a career development seminar series that teaches them how to plan, execute and communicate research, and provides them with training in proper research conduct and ethics. Speakers from industry introduce students to different career paths, and the REU students visit the research and production facility of a major pharmaceutical company. The career development program is rounded out by a session devoted to graduate school admission and an overview of post-graduate degree options. The participants choose from either single-REU student/single-faculty or multi-REU student/multi-faculty projects from research groups with complementary expertise, which demonstrates to the students the value of collaborative research. The projects are in the general areas of medicinal chemistry, drug delivery systems, lipid metabolism and characterization of membrane proteins. Upon acceptance into the program, students meet virtually with their advisor team to get acquainted, discuss the project goals, and develop a research plan. This allows the students to take full ownership of their project, as well as to focus on laboratory research immediately after the summer program begins. The summer research experience culminates in an undergraduate research conference, and selected students have the opportunity to present their research outcomes at the ACS Spring meeting. Ultimately, this site trains a diverse group of students, recruited from two and four-year institutions, to become well-rounded members of the chemical sciences workforce.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.