REU Site: MURALS (Materials-focused Undergraduate Research Applied to the Life Sciences) at UMass Amherst

University Of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Non-Technical Summary This REU site offers research opportunities for 10 undergraduates each summer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst). This REU site is unique in that it will give students training in how to create advanced materials and how to use these materials to tackle grand challenges in biology. Students work in laboratories at the biology/materials interface, take part in both professional development and technical training provided by the REU site, and learn from near-peer and lab mentors to guide student career development. The site has outstanding mentors from leaders in the field from both Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at UMass Amherst. All labs are physically and intellectually connected through the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass. Industry site visits and entrepreneurial outreach activities help expose students to potential career opportunities in biotechnology. Partnership with the other professional development programs at UMass supports recruitment and mentoring of REU students across all backgrounds to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to research opportunities at UMass. Recruiting efforts at several minority-serving national conferences, as well as partnerships with minority-serving institutions via the Diversity Office in the College of Engineering at UMass ensures opportunities for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. Evaluation efforts track the long-term outcomes for students from these groups. Technical Summary This is a new REU site (MURALS: Materials-focused Undergraduate Research Applied to the Life Sciences) at UMass Amherst, developed to offer research opportunities for 10 undergraduates each summer, broadly in the area of materials for bioengineering applications. The PI of this REU site, Prof. Shelly Peyton, is an expert in bioengineering, with a focus on applying biomaterials development toward solving complex problems in biology. This site has 10 host laboratories, with faculty from the Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering departments at UMass Amherst, who are both physically and intellectually connected through the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst. The overarching objectives of the MURALS REU Site are to: 1) Recruit and encourage students from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering to do research at the interface of materials and the life sciences; 2) Inspire students from all backgrounds to pursue graduate studies and/or professional careers at the interface of materials and the life sciences; 3) Train students to be effective scientific communicators, through carefully planned workshops on writing, presentation skills, and working amongst diverse groups of scientists; 4) Integrate REU students within the broader scientific community at UMass Amherst by pairing students with peer mentors outside the lab; 5) Allow students to explore their interests in entrepreneurship, through a partnership with the technology development office within IALS, the Biotechnology Training Program (BTP) at UMass, and industry Site visits; 6) Provide students with professional development workshops and tools (e.g., career choices, ethics in research, interviewing strategies, time management) to instill the techniques to succeed in any industry long after they leave MURALS. Recruiting efforts at several minority-serving national conferences, as well as partnerships with minority-serving institutions via the Diversity Office in the College of Engineering ensure opportunities for students from traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. Evaluation efforts track the long-term outcomes for students from these groups. 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.