NRT-HDR: using a data analytics framework to merge STEM and entrepreneurial training

在过去的十年中，利用“组学”信息（基因组学、转录组学和蛋白质组学）来回答医学、环境科学和其他领域的主要社会问题的企业蓬勃发展。这些成功凸显了将学术发现与其商业应用联系起来的力量。然而，他们也发现了当前STEM研究生培训中的一个缺口：课程的设计只关注发现的学术过程，很少探索其在私营部门的应用和发展，而私营部门是商科毕业生的职责范围。同样，商科毕业生在自己的领域受过良好的训练，但缺乏科学背景，无法对潜在公司的研究方向做出明智的决定。美国国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）奖将通过开发一个完全集成的组学-商业课程来解决这一差距，该课程将在培养创业技能的同时培养科学知识。这个项目的融合性质将基于教师导师和学生团队的跨学科小组，他们将从数据收集和分析到业务设计和开发一起工作。该项目预计将有18名受资助的学员和另外30名研究生（硕士和博士）参加。本科生也将被鼓励参加一些将被开发的活动。总的来说，大约有100名学生预计将从这个NRT项目中受益。这个多组学数据分析（DAMOS） NRT项目的研究主题是使用先进的基因组学、转录组学和蛋白质组学方法研究表型变异。“表型”是指与有机体适应性和生存相关的任何修饰，无论是宏观的、微观的还是分子的。基因组学、转录组学和蛋白质组学可变性驱动表型改变。使用数据科学和分析的通用语言，本课程的学生将设计和开发探索“组学”管道的全部广度的项目，从而有助于将基因组映射到表型关系。与此同时，他们将利用这些知识制定商业计划，练习商业宣传，并与当地行业合作伙伴建立网络/实习，学习如何将学术发现转化为解决社会重大挑战的解决方案。对数据科学和数据分析的关注将有效地创造一种新的培训模式，超越个人学科的界限，培养新一代科学家，他们在探索其潜在的商业和社会影响时，同样可以轻松地深入研究细节。DAMOS项目的关键要素包括：(i)灵活的课程，从三个不同的学科（生物学，数学和统计学，以及商业）中吸取，（ii）模块化研讨会和体验式学习机会，整合和扩展每个学生的科学和商业背景，以及（iii）专业和职业发展机会，探索学术和行业职业道路。所有这些元素都完全整合在奥克兰大学目前的研究生课程中，并将为这个和未来的跨学科项目提供一个可持续和可扩展的蓝图。美国国家科学基金会研究实习生（NRT）计划旨在鼓励开发和实施大胆的、具有潜在变革性的STEM研究生教育培训新模式。该项目致力于通过创新、循证、适应不断变化的劳动力和研究需求的综合培训模式，在高优先级跨学科或融合研究领域对STEM研究生进行有效培训。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。

In the past decade, businesses that utilize “omics” information (genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics) to answer major societal issues in medicine, environmental science, and other fields have flourished. These successes highlight the power of bridging academic discoveries and their commercial applications. However, they also identify a gap in current STEM graduate student training: curricula are designed to focus narrowly on the academic processes of discoveries with minimal exploration of their application to and development in the private sector, which is the purview of business graduates. Similarly, business graduates are well trained in their field but lack the scientific background to make informed decisions about the research direction of a potential company. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award will address this gap by developing a fully-integrated omics-business curriculum that will develop scientific knowledge alongside entrepreneurial skills. The convergent nature of this program will be based in interdisciplinary groups of faculty mentors and student teams that will work together from data collection and analysis to business design and development. The program anticipates the participation of 18 funded trainees and an additional 30 graduate students (Master and PhD). Undergraduate students will also be encouraged to participate in some of the activities that will be developed. Overall, approximately 100 students are expected to benefit from this NRT program.The research theme of this Data Analytics in Multi-Omics Science (DAMOS) NRT program is investigating phenotypic variation using advanced genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics methodologies. “Phenotype” is any modification, whether macroscopic, microscopic, or molecular, that is correlated with changes in organismal fitness and survival. Genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics variability drives phenotypic alterations. Using the common language of data science and analytics, students in this program will design and develop projects that explore the full breadth of an “omics” pipeline, thus contributing to mapping genome to phenome relations. At the same time, they will capitalize on this knowledge to develop a business plan, practice business pitches, and network/intern with local industry partners to learn how to transform academic discoveries into solutions for some of society’s grand challenges. The focus on data science and data analytics will effectively create a new training paradigm that transcends the boundaries of individual disciplines to create a new generation of scientists who are equally comfortable diving into the details of their research as they are at exploring its potential business and societal impacts. Key elements of the DAMOS program include (i) a flexible curriculum that draws from three different disciplines (biology, mathematics and statistics, and business), (ii) modular workshops and experiential learning opportunities that integrate and expand on each student’s scientific and business background, and (iii) professional and career development opportunities to explore academic and industry career paths. All these elements are fully integrated within current graduate curricula at Oakland University and will provide a sustainable and scalable blueprint for this and future transdisciplinary programs.The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs.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.