Project Profile
Program In Cellular Engineering
William Marsh Rice University
Abstract
This IGERT award supports the establishment of an interdisciplinary research training program in the emerging field of cellular engineering. The program focuses on metabolic and tissue engineering and provides science and engineering students with rigorous educational and research training in the fields of bioengineering, biochemistry, and cell biology. A co… more »
This IGERT award supports the establishment of an interdisciplinary research training program in the emerging field of cellular engineering. The program focuses on metabolic and tissue engineering and provides science and engineering students with rigorous educational and research training in the fields of bioengineering, biochemistry, and cell biology. A co-supervision system is created in which students will have an advisor from the Department of Bioengineering and an advisor from the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology for guidance of mechanistic and design aspects of research projects.
The fundamental curriculum for IGERT trainees includes coverage of scientific ethics, advanced laboratory skills, basic biosciences (biochemistry and cell biology) and engineering systems analysis. Student participants work in cooperative environments including team design projects and an industrial internship program with companies engaged in cellular engineering. This program is coordinated with a pre- and post internship seminar program to maximize the impact of the students’ industrial experiences. The establishment of a visiting scientist position and a focused seminar series having different annual themes provides in depth exposure to new areas.
A key component of the program will be continued expansion of our successful undergraduate recruitment program for underrepresented minorities to this specialized area of graduate education. Building upon established strengths in interdisciplinary research and education, this training program creates a center of excellence in cellular engineering that will train researchers who can utilize advances in biological sciences to produce innovative and cost- effective biotechnological products in the 21st century.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the multidisciplinary backgrounds 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 new, innovative models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries. In the fourth year of the program, awards are being made to twenty-two institutions for programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF. The intellectual foci of this specific award reside in the Directorates for Engineering; Biological Sciences; and Education and Human Resources. « less
