Integrative Graduate
Education and
Research Traineeship

Highlight

Example of an Education Activity in our IGERT

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IGERT-CMMB Research and Training

Projects:

IGERT: Training the Next Generation of Researchers in...

Institution:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Primary Strategic Goal:

Discovery: Foster research that will advance the frontiers of knowledge, emphasizing areas of greatest opportunity and potential benefit and establishing the Nation as a global leader in fundamental transformational science and engineering.

Secondary Strategic Goal:

Learning: Build the Nation's research capability through critical investments in advanced instrumentation, facilities, cyber infrastructure, and experimental tools.

Achievement/Results

In our pursuit of producing the next generation of leaders in Cellular and Molecular Mechanics and BioNanotechnology, our trainees are making great progress in research endeavors. For example, a trainee developed a new Label-free Imaging technology for measurement of cell adhesion that can be used to monitor cellular processes. In the attached image we also show a group photo of our 2011 BioNanotechnology Summer Institute participants. During the two-week Institute, 17 lecturers discussed the state of the art in nanobiotechnology. Participants also experienced six hands-on lab modules in cell biology, molecular biology, nanofabrication, microfluidics, therapeutic nanotechnology, and mechanobiology.

Address Goals

This highlight shows an example of both the primary and the secondary NSF strategic goals marked above. The new label free detection scheme is an example of advancing the state of the art in research. Our highly successful summer institute is a perfect example of efforts to develop, educate, and cultivate a world-class, broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce to expand the scientific literacy of all citizens. This workshop is open to all and attracts approximately 50 attendees from across the US and worldwide.