Project Profile
Integrated Graduate Program in the Physical Biosciences: From Molecular Machines to Neural Imaging
University of California at Berkeley
Abstract
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research on the development and application of physical and computational methods for the study of biological problems at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels. The program is a joint… more »
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program of education and research on the development and application of physical and computational methods for the study of biological problems at the molecular, cellular, and systems levels. The program is a joint effort of 31 faculty and research scientists drawn from seven Departments at the University of California at Berkeley and three Divisions at the neighboring Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It will transcend traditional academic boundaries to produce the next generation of physical bioscientists, equally conversant with physical and biological methods and problems.
Research thrust areas include biomolecular structure, dynamics, and design, and cellular signaling networks and systems neuroscience, with an emphasis on the development and application of novel molecular microscopy and detection devices and theoretical and computational modeling approaches. Students enrolled in any of nine existing Ph.D. programs will participate in personalized training, including new courses on single-molecule methods, bioinformatics, molecular biophysics, and hand-on laboratory courses in physical bioscience. Research and career placement seminars, retreats, summer internships and intensive courses, and a dual mentoring program will provide a rich environment for multidisciplinary training.
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 third year of the program, awards are being made to nineteen 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 Biological Sciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Education and Human Resources. « less
