| NSF Org: |
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure |
| Recipient: |
|
| Initial Amendment Date: | February 21, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | February 21, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1757216 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Sally O'Connor
DBI Division of Biological Infrastructure BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2018 |
| End Date: | February 28, 2022 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $321,315.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $321,315.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
|
| History of Investigator: |
|
| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4333 BROOKLYN AVE NE SEATTLE WA US 98195-1016 (206)543-4043 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
|
| Primary Place of Performance: |
WA US 98195-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
|
| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
|
| Parent UEI: |
|
| NSF Program(s): |
RSCH EXPER FOR UNDERGRAD SITES, EWFD-Eng Workforce Development |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001819RB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
|
| Program Element Code(s): |
|
| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.074 |
ABSTRACT
This REU Site award to the University of Washington, located in Seattle, WA, will support the training of 30 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2018- 2020. The scientific theme will focus on the confluence of biotechnology and information technology. More specifically, research will focus on the emerging domain of neural engineering. This research area encompasses the development of concepts and devices used to assist, understand, and interact with neural systems. Because neural engineering is an interdisciplinary topic, students will be assigned to laboratories in several departments including Bioengineering, Biology, Physiology and Biophysics, Psychology, Rehabilitation Medicine, Computer Sciences and Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. In addition to laboratory work, students will participate in a communications course and workshops to improve their presentation and writing skills. All REU participants will complete a Responsible Conduct of Research Training including discussions about the ethical conduct of research (e.g., plagiarism, falsification of data, note keeping, statistics, animal welfare, human subjects). A special workshop will be provided about the definition of ethics and how ethical issues might arise in the field of sensorimotor neural engineering. Talented undergraduates, especially those from under-represented groups and who have completed their freshman and sophomore years, are encouraged to apply. The selection of students is based on the quality of the students' written materials in their application, letters of recommendation and academic record.
It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences.
A common web-based assessment tool used by all REU Site programs funded by the Division of Biological Infrastructure will be used to determine the effectiveness of the training program. Students will be tracked after the program in order to determine their career paths. Students will be asked to respond to an automatic email sent via the NSF reporting system. More information about the program is available by visiting http://www.csne-erc.org or by contacting the PI (Dr. Eric H. Chudler at chudler@uw.edu). This award is supported by the Directorate for Biological Sciences (DBI Division) and the Directorate for Engineering (EEC Division). It is also supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.
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.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The "REU Site: Sensorimotor Neural Engineering" provided a carefully mentored ten week summer research experience for talented undergraduate students at the University of Washington in the NSF Engineering Research Center for Neurotechnology (CNT). Students were recruited primarily from under-represented groups using established recruiting contacts at historically black colleges and predominantly minority institutions. The CNT REU program received between 200 and 300 applications for 10 positions each year. Undergraduate students worked in collaborative research teams with a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow mentor and a faculty member. Student projects focused on CNT topics that provided interdisciplinary engineering research experiences in the fields of neuroscience, electrical engineering, physiology, computer science, and mechanical engineering. The students also participated in a weekly communications course to improve student oral presentation and writing skills. At the end of the summer, each student presented the results (oral and poster presentations) of their summer research in a minisymposium session.
Post-program surveys indicate that REU participants show significant enhancement of their knowledge about the fundamentals of neuroscience, engineering, and neuroethics research. Statistically significant differences in student gains in knowledge before and after the program were reported in the sensorimotor neural engineering skills sets of 1) analysis of neural engineering data, 2) designing experiments in neural engineering, 3) interpretation of neural engineering results, and 4) ethical and responsible conduct of research in neural engineering. Students also consistently reported increasing competence in 1) their understanding regarding how to conduct a neural engineering experiment, 2) problem solving in neural engineering, 3) building scientific knowledge in neural engineering, and 4) understanding primary scientific literature in neural engineering. Statistically significant differences in student gains in knowledge before and after the program were reported in the sensorimotor neural engineering skills sets of: 1) oral communication of neural engineering knowledge and research, 2) written communication of neural engineering knowledge and research, and 3). innovative practices in neural engineering research. Students have consistently reported increases in 1) their confidence of their neural engineering skills, 2) their confidence in their ability to succeed at graduate school, 3) working collaboratively with others on a neural engineering team, 4) working independently on neural engineering research and projects, 5) their persistence in completion of neural engineering research, and 6) an increase in feeling competent to participate in a neural engineering learning community. Participants? knowledge also shows statistically significant differences before and after the REU program in 1) industry?s role in neural engineering and 2) knowledge of careers in neural engineering. Students also consistently reported an increase in their awareness of 1) career options in neural engineering, 2) career paths of the people who work in neural engineering, 3) the variety of STEM fields in which they could specialize, 4) professional connections in the field of neural engineering, and 5) pathways to a neural engineering degree.
Some CNT REU students are still pursuing their undergraduate degrees and have stated that they plan to apply to graduate school. Other undergraduate students who have participated in the CNT REU program have been successful in STEM career pathways by enrolling in graduate school (for example, in the departments of bioengineering, neuroscience, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science or information science) or medical school or working in industry.
Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit of the CNT REU program focused on student opportunities to work with CNT investigators who are on the cutting edge research at the neurobiology/engineering interface. The CNT mission is to develop innovative neural devices and methods for directing engineered neuroplasticity in the brain and spinal cord, which will improve sensory and motor function for people with spinal cord injury, stroke and other neurological disorders. Engineered neuroplasticity is a new form of rehabilitation that uses engineered devices to restore lost or injured connections in the brain, spinal cord and other areas of the nervous system. Using mathematical and structural models, it is possible to design neural interfaces integrated with external control devices.
Broader Impacts: Broader societal impact is the hallmark of the research at the CNT. Participants gained valuable knowledge in an area of research that has significant and growing global impact on the quality of life. The successful effort of involving underrepresented minorities helps to intellectually and technically empower a drastically under-utilized work force that will have a major impact not only in the future of the United States, but of the world.
Last Modified: 03/01/2022
Modified by: Eric H Chudler
Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
