A multi-institutional Integrative Graduate Traineeship (IGERT) program, entitled Collaborative Research and Education in Agricultural Technologies and Engineering (CREATE) links the University of California at Davis with Tuskegee University in a training program with the overarching theme of the utilization of plants for the production of industrial non-food products and biopharmaceuticals. This program brings together a diverse group of faculty and graduate students from plant sciences, molecular biology and engineering to work together in interdisciplinary teams that will tackle critical societal challenges with applications in the following areas: 1) rapid vaccine production and cost-effective therapeutics, 2) biofuels and biorefineries, and 3) phytoremediation. The IGERT training program is aimed at developing specific skills that advance complex, interdisciplinary technologies. Novel components of the CREATE program include (1) the establishment of a Masters-to-PhD bridging program, (2) the development and implementation of a new graduate lecture course and two summer laboratory short courses on "Plant Transformation Methods" and "Recovery and Purification of Plant-Derived Products," and (3) industrial research internship opportunities in the United States as well as international research internship opportunities in Ireland at the University of Ireland, Maynooth and Teagasc Oak Park Research Centre. The broader impact of the CREATE program is the creation of a diverse group of research and educational leaders who will have knowledge of the fundamental principles and applications of plant science, biotechnology and bioprocess engineering as well as an understanding of the broader issues (environmental impact, public/societal views and global impact) of the field. The CREATE program emphasizes integrated training in plant sciences, molecular biology and engineering, to train the research, educational, business, regulatory, and policy leaders of the future who will help solve society's most pressing problems related to health, energy sustainability, and environmental stewardship. 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.
The NSF CREATE (Collaborative Research and Education in Agricultural Technologies and Engineering) IGERT program was a graduate training grant program for PhD students at the University of California, Davis and Tuskegee University with international partner universities in Ireland. Over the course of the funding period, 27 CREATE trainees were immersed in the technical, professional and regulatory aspects of plant biotechnology and conducted research in one of three general focus areas: Plant-Made Pharmaceuticals, Biofuels and Biorefineries, and Environmental Sustainability. The program trained scientists and engineers who conducted team-based interdisciplinary research critical to emerging new industries that use plants to solve our world’s most critical challenges: rapid production of treatments against infectious diseases or biological threats, reducing the cost of producing biofuels, and development of food crops that can be grown under changing climate conditions. For example, through summer laboratory short courses, the program trained students in the methods used for rapid production and purification of proteins in tobacco, the same process that is currently being used to produce the experimental Ebola treatment, ZMapp. A multidisciplinary CREATE-IGERT research team demonstrated integrated processing of sugar beets at the lab and pilot scale for bioethanol and biogas production. Another CREATE-IGERT interdisciplinary research team identified fundamental processes involved in plant stress perception and response, which is of fundamental importance for plant survival in the constantly-changing environment. These team science plant-based technologies have the potential to benefit society in many ways, including lowering the cost and increasing production speed of therapeutics in the case of disease outbreaks like Ebola, improving health and quality of life in low and middle income countries, realizing the promise of renewable energy, and ensuring food supply under changing climate conditions. Project outcomes related to the intellectual merit include the development and evaluation of an interdisciplinary graduate training focused on the theme described above in which doctoral students not only performed cutting edge research and disseminated their findings through publications, presentations, patents, and outreach activities, but also developed eight key "integrative skills" which allowed them to understand the context for translation of their research including the regulatory, policy, intellectual property, commercialization, and global aspects. Project outcomes related to the broader impacts include training of a diverse (40% URM, 40% women) STEM doctoral students with 12 graduates to date (the rest have been advanced to candidacy and are finishing up their programs) who are becoming technical leaders in industry and academia and helping to define policy and regulations around plant based technologies. CREATE-IGERT alumni have joined biotechnology companies, started their own companies, secured tenure track faculty positions and prestigious post-doctoral fellowships, including a AAAS Science and Technology Fellowship at the USDA-APHIS. In addition, the program has catalyzed new research collaborations between academic groups which has led to new extramurally funded projects and established strong networks with industry.
