REU Site: Interactive Biomaterials

Non-technical Summary

The Interactive Biomaterials Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site will advance scientific progress by providing students nationwide with hands-on experience in cutting-edge biomaterials research. The students will receive training to pursue impactful careers in science and engineering. Through this program, students will engage in collaborative research projects and gain technical expertise while building essential skills in teamwork, networking, and effective communication with scientific and public audiences.

The program prioritizes actively recruiting students with limited research opportunities to ensure engagement in STEM education. Participants will receive mentorship from faculty, graduate students, and peers, fostering a supportive environment that empowers them to succeed. A key focus is introducing students to STEM careers and inspiring students to pursue advanced education.

Best practices and lessons learned from this REU Site are widely disseminated through online platforms and educational publications, enabling replication and expansion of similar initiatives to further promote excellence in biomaterials research. Technical Summary

Modern biomaterials are increasingly designed to be stimulus-responsive, adapting their properties in controlled ways to respond to environmental stimuli such as thermal, chemical, or mechanical changes. These materials interact with biological environments at multiple scales—atomic, molecular, cellular, microscopic, and macroscopic—where these interactions ultimately govern their performance.

The research projects offered through this REU Site will advance our understanding of these fundamental interactions and cover a wide range of cutting-edge topics. Examples include shape memory and stimulus-responsive polymers, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems, the collective behavior of bacterial biofilms, cell-biomaterial interactions, stem cell research, biocompatible soft robots, 3D printing of microfluidic devices, and computational modeling of biomaterials.

These projects will be hypothesis-driven and foster collaborations across laboratories, departments, and institutions, leveraging the expertise of faculty mentors. Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, analytical tools, and computational resources, these mentors will provide students with exceptional training in advanced research methods.

By participating in these projects, students will gain hands-on experience, develop technical expertise, and deepen their understanding of the complexity of biomaterials. They will also learn to harness the unique properties of these materials for applications in advanced technologies, preparing them for graduate studies and careers in academia, industry, and government.

This REU Site will emphasize interdisciplinary collaboration and hypothesis-driven inquiry, integrating both into its student training and research. The program will prepare the next generation of scientists and contribute to advancements in biomaterials science by addressing fundamental challenges and fostering innovation.

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.