9306345 Scheraga This award provides funds to permit Dr. Harold A. Scheraga, Department of Chemistry, Cornell University, to pursue with Professor Mu Shik Jhon, Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Dr. Kyoung Tai No, Department of Chemistry, Soong-Sil University, Korea, for 36 months, a program of cooperative research on the development of empirical potential functions for protein folding. This theoretical research is designed to elucidate the energies and mechanism of the folding of a polypeptide chain into the native conformation of a protein. While current potential functions, developed by the collaborators, are sufficiently accurate for several applications, the collaborators will develop new and better potential functions which will have greater applicability. This research is important for developing a better understanding of the structure and properties of proteins. The collaborators are highly respected researchers in the field of the proposal. This project is relevant to the objectives of the U.S.-Korea Cooperative Science Program which seeks to increase the level of cooperation between U.S. and Korean scientists and engineers through the exchange of scientific information, ideas, skills, and techniques and through collaboration on problems of mutual benefit. Korean participation in the project is supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF). This project adds an international cooperative dimension to the PI's research under NSF Grant No. DMB-9015815. ***
