Project Abstract: The purpose of this award is to support four new Satellite Educational Workshops that will be held concurrently before the start of the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities annual meeting (Orlando FL, March 2012). The four workshops are (1) Pathway Analysis in Transcriptomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics; (2) Business Skills for Core Facility Directors and Managers; 3) Epigenomics: Design, Implementation and Analysis of RNA-seq and Methyl-seq Experiments; and (4) Manual Interpretation of Electron Transfer Dissociation Mass Spectra of Peptides. The award will enable the establishment of a Travel Award program dedicated to the professional development of core facility personnel and of young scientists interested in life science technologies. This NSF award will help establish online educational materials for workshop participants and provide the foundation for the development of future shared educational resources for the community at large. The intellectual merit of these workshops is in educating the constant flow of new, enthusiastic researchers in the use of both established and cutting-edge technologies critical to the progression of science in all fields. The broader impact of this award is to provide a particularly powerful mechanism for facilitating the participation of individuals from underrepresented groups, including women and members of minority groups, who would not otherwise be able to afford to attend the educational satellite workshops.
The Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF) is an international organization of life sciences and biotechnology core facilities and research laboratories. This grant provided support for four new Satellite Educational Workshops (SWs) that were held before the start of the 2012 ABRF annual meeting, including; SW1) Manual Interpretation of Electron Transfer Dissociation Mass Spectra of Peptides, SW2) Pathway Analysis in Transcriptomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics, SW3) Business Skills for Core Facility Directors and Managers, and SW4) Epigenomics: Design, Implementation and Analysis of RNA-seq and Methyl-seq Experiments. SW2-4 were held on March 17th, 2012 while SW1 was held over two half days on March 16th and 17th, 2012. The 2012 workshops boasted an attendance of 104 participants and 16 travel awards were distributed. This funding was used to: 1) support logistics efforts for the educational workshops including travel funds for the instructor team, 2) create a 2012 Satellite Workshop Travel Award program providing an opportunity for core facility managers and staff, researchers, postdoctoral fellows and students interested in life science technologies to receive training and learn about state-of-the art biotechnology applications and core facility operation from experts, and 3) support the development of online educational materials for continued access of workshop contents by participants and to share educational resource for the scientific community at large. Intellectual Merit: Education of researchers is critical for the adoption and use of new technologies to answer advanced questions in life sciences research. Moreover, educating the constant flow of new, enthusiastic researchers in the use of both established and cutting-edge technologies is critical to the progression of science in all fields. The 2012 ABRF Satellite Educational Workshops provided an ideal mechanism for the ABRF to continue to carry out its mission of supporting the activities of core facilities and biotechnology research laboratories. The organizers and lecturers who participated in these workshops are established experts in their fields. The Education Award program helped to facilitate Satellite Workshop attendance of minority students and faculty and has enabled the continued professional development of many technical level core facility personnel. Broader Impact: The Educational Workshops helped to improve the ability of participants to integrate state-of- the-art technology into their research or resource laboratories, resulting in the advancement of a broad range of current and future NSF-funded projects in many institutions nationwide. The scholarships provided by the Educational Award enabled researchers at all stages of their careers, from novice to experienced, to diversify their technical portfolios and to learn how to optimally implement new and advanced techniques. These scholarships provided a particularly powerful mechanism for broadening the participation of students and individuals from underrepresented groups in core research. After returning to their home institutions, participants could implement new techniques and technologies, forge new networks and partnerships, and enhance the value of their local research infrastructure and the productivity of their shared research resources. Cutting-edge technologies and their applications are continually changing to meet the needs of life sciences research. The ability to share the expert knowledge presented in these workshops with the research community by creating an online resource can help to advance a wide range of research endeavors.
