Programs

Undergraduate

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

The Center for Engineering MechanoBiology (CEMB), a National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center (STC), seeks motivated undergraduate students for its Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program for Summer 2022. Students participate in a 10-week, on-campus program in St. Louis or Philadelphia, working in research groups at Washington University in St. Louis. Students or at the University of Pennsylvania. Based on their interests, educational background, and previous research experience, students are matched to projects within a research group.

Many projects are interdisciplinary and provide opportunities to develop research skills in the physical sciences, the biological sciences, and engineering. Students develop practical research skills: collaborating, designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating results. Other aspects of the program complement the lab experience and are oriented toward professional development and career skills: seminars, journal clubs, and professional and career workshops, including training in ethics, innovation, and technology transfer.

Research Areas

Graduate

Boot Camp

CEMB graduate fellows participate in CEMB’s intensive “Boot Camp” experience, held every other summer. Fellows usually participate within the first two years of joining the CEMB.

Boot Camp, hosted at one member institution for all participants, includes lectures in cell biology, bioengineering, matrix biology, and plant biology and mechanics; wet and dry lab experiences in rheometry, basic cell and molecular biology techniques, basics plant biology techniques, and computational modeling; small group tutorials; journal clubs; and ethics and knowledge transfer training.

Boot Camp includes a mini-research experience and presentation at the conclusion of the course.