This renewal of a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site at Iowa State University (ISU) entitled, Biological Materials and Processes (BioMaP), will create novel research experiences for a talented and diverse group of undergraduate students from traditionally underrepresented populations, with limited access to STEM research opportunities. The cross-disciplinary nature of BioMaP enables students to discover the exciting biology/interface and will focus on two research themes. (1) Biological Materials - The interface between biology and materials can be exploited to design robust materials with unique properties. In this context, biological materials are synthetic materials that interact with biological molecules/systems in specific ways to promote biological function. The students will work on projects that include developing biomaterials that allow for structural and mechanical control over the tumor microenvironment or immune cells as well as understanding the relationship between aptamer structure and function for synthetic biology applications. (2) Biological Processes - A fundamental knowledge of biological processes will be critical in the future chemical industry. Students will be exposed to this area through projects on enhancing microbial robustness for biorenewable fuels and chemicals, engineering probiotic organisms and modeling photobioreactors to optimize the cultivation of algae. Students will be exposed to exciting research experiences of working in a global environment where their research will evolve from dependent to independent status and they will attain life-long learning skills that will impact their contributions to engineering, science and society.
Over a three-year period, this REU Site program will engage undergraduate students in a 10-week intensive, summer research experience focused on the two research themes of Biological Materials and Biological Processes. The students will be active members of multidisciplinary groups and will interact with a faculty team that is diverse, has broad research interests and an outstanding record of mentoring undergraduate students. The REU students will participate in cohort experiences such as short courses, joint seminars/meetings and workshops on a variety of topics including research ethics, graduate school preparation and professional social media.Formalized written reports and poster presentations will be used to develop communication skills and a BioMaP alumni LinkedIn page will insure that the participants have access to a built-in professional network that can help them to decide how to apply their Chemical and Biological Engineering background in their careers. At the end of the summer program, the students will participate in a joint poster symposium together with students from other ISU undergraduate research programs.
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.
