NSF REU Site: Research training in the biomedical sciences and engineering

This REU Site award to Yale University, located in New Haven, CT, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2021-2023. It is anticipated that a total of 10 students per year, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities or from under-represented groups, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted and about various types of science careers.

Many of the students will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Assessment of the program will be performed via the online SALG URSSA tool. Students will be tracked after the program to determine their career paths.

This 10-week NSF REU Site provides undergraduates with convergent, hands-on research experiences and professional development skills at a large research institution that will enable them to pursue STEM careers. The REU Site has three focus research areas: A) Biological imaging and data science, B) Biomechanics, and C) Systems biology. Each REU participant conducts research in one of these research areas.

Enrichment activities develop students’ written and oral communication skills aimed at science and lay audiences, networking skills, and understanding of the graduate application process, STEM careers, and scientific ethics. REU participants will gain a deeper understanding of interdisciplinary and quantitative research and how wet-lab experiments inform computational and theoretical approaches, and vice versa.

This REU Site helps students determine if they want to pursue graduate studies, the field they want to pursue during graduate studies, and the STEM careers that are available to them. Many participants will have the opportunity to present their research at scientific conferences, and, when possible, contribute to the preparation of scientific publications.

The success of the REU Site will be assessed by participants yearly, and used to improve the program elements. More information about the program, including the application process, is available by visiting https://physics-engineering-biology.yale.edu/nsf-reu-site or by contacting the PI (Prof. Corey O’Hern at [email protected]) or the co-PI (Dr. Dorottya Noble at [email protected]).

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.