This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the development of an interdisciplinary, cellular to societal, graduate training program in Aging Sciences at Oregon State University (OSU). The program capitalizes on synergies among scientists at OSU's Center for Healthy Aging Research in the following multidisciplinary research cores: 1) Diet, Genes, and Aging; 2) Musculoskeletal Aging; 3) Psychosocial Aging, and 4) Gerontechnology.
Intellectual Merit: Dramatic increases in longevity have altered the nature of work, family relationships, retirement, health care, and the economy. Maintenance of independence and physical, cognitive, and psychological health in later life depends on understanding and advances in nutrition, exercise, sociocultural factors, assistive technology, and the built environment. Broader Impacts: The IGERT in Aging Sciences trains a new generation of U.S. researchers in cross disciplinary work using state-of-the-art equipment and methods to discover mechanisms that moderate the rate of aging and affect quality of life. Student recruitment from underrepresented groups, attention to diversity, and global education enhance all training aspects. The newly developed Aging Sciences minor will produce effective communicators who can leverage their comprehensive knowledge of aging and foster interdisciplinary collaborations. Structured activities include: participation in research apprenticeships with faculty from two research cores; weekly forums addressing professional development issues and a problem-based yearlong project; participation in the annual LIFE (Linking Individuals, Families, and Environments) Academy, external internships, and opportunities to build mentoring and teaching skills. These programmatic activities position students to make contributions to knowledge of optimal aging through research and to develop innovative products, services, and policies for an aging society.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.
