Morgan State University (MSU) is advancing the fundamental scientific and technological knowledge necessary for the development new biological and chemical sensors for use in bioenvironmental research. This research is essential to the long-term success of Morgan's PhD in Bioenvironmental Sciences and Doctor of Engineering programs and will assist MSU's transition from a traditional undergraduate teaching institution to a doctoral-comprehensive research university. The interdisciplinary research projects are an outgrowth of previous NSF-RISE funding, which produced strong collaborations among researchers at Morgan in the School of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, School of Engineering, and the University of Alabama at Huntsville. These research collaborations can potentially make major contributions to the fundamental understanding of the design and development of dual use biosensing systems for monitoring the impact of environmental pollutants on urban and rural ecosystems, as well as for homeland security applications. . A synergistic research program is being developed based on the following subprojects: 1) Synthesis and modification of heptamethine near-Infrared dyes; 2) Development of a dual fluorescence lifetime biosensor; 3) Prediction of adhesion molecule expression using a random walk technique; 4) Development of novel anion and amines sensors.
The NSF-RISE award has been instrumental in transforming Morgan State University from a teaching toa research institution by building its research infrastructure. The transformation involved fundamental challenges to the department, school and university. The funding allowed us to develop a continuous research pipeline at Morgan that actively engages students from K-12 through the graduate level. The grants enabled us to address several critical issues that were required for this transformation. The most critical issue was facilities and instrumentation, and we were able to acquire state-of the-art instrumentation for both teaching and research activities in chemistry and other allied departments. The NSF-RISE award also allowed us to address the issues of faculty and student development. Initiatives were implemented which enabled faculty to submit mini-grants to develop collaborative research with a focused research theme to development of biosensor technology based on Eco-friendly microwave techniques. The four research thrusts are: Metal-enhanced near-infrared fluorescence from silver and nickel nanoparticles; Synthesis Modification of cyanine dyes; development of chitosan substrates for electrochemical sensors; and anion sensor synthesis and characterization. As a result of these NSF-RISE awards the research productivity and national recognition of Morgan has been significantly enhanced. The major challenge which the awards allowed us to address was the lack of research personnel which is critical to a successful transformation. A strategy was formulated that leveraged the benefits of early exposure to research while also enabling the development of a unique integrative undergraduate/graduate research infrastructure. This strategy also enabled us to develop internal and external collaborations focused on the development of biosensor technology based on Eco-friendly microwave techniques. The strategy consists of three interrelated components. The first component is a Continuous Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that provides students with a comprehensive research experience throughout their undergraduate tenure. This is uniquely different from the survey type of research activities students currently experience in which the project is limited in duration and the scope and discipline changes frequently. The framework for the research development program is divided into three categories: critical thinking and literature, critical thinking and research and critical thinking and peer review. Each category relies on the "The Thinker’s Guide Library" published by the Foundation for Critical Thinking. Each student receives the Critical Thinking Mini Guide and faculty mentors have access to the Thinkers Guide Library. The second component is a five-year BS/MS research program. This program is a pre-doctoral program since students are required to write and defend a thesis based on 3-5 years of research. Students completing this program have had extremely high success rates in PhD programs. From the perspective of infrastructure the program served as a bridge between the undergraduate and graduate programs and addressed the inherent productivity problems associated with undergraduate research. This has provided a very strong foundation for further development of our PhD in Bioenvironmental Sciences. These strategies can be successfully applied at similar universities which are transitioning from a teaching institution..
