REU Site: Novel Genome-Scale Technologies and Big Data Science

This REU Site award to the University of Washington, located in Seattle, WA, will support the training of ten students for nine weeks during the summers of 2025-2027. The rapid advances in genome engineering and sequencing technology have propelled biological research and its commercial applications forward. Genome-scale technologies have transformed medicine, agriculture, energy production, and information technology resulting in many job opportunities for students pursing technology development and computational biology. At the REU Site: Novel Genome-Scale Technologies and Big Data Science, undergraduate students will witness and experience research at the forefront of technology development in genomics and proteomics. This experience will uniquely prepare them for the competitive marketplace of ideas and provide skills that are applicable in a wide range of fields, including biology, computer science and engineering. Their newly acquired skills will benefit the much needed workforce development for the emerging bioeconomy. The students will learn how rigorous research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Assessment of this program will be done through external tools (e.g., Qualtrics). Students should apply to the REU site using NSF ETAP (Education and Training Application: https://etap.nsf.gov). This nine-week program will introduce participating students to leading researchers in technology and algorithm development in biological research and enable them to become involved in the wide range of research questions, applications, and career opportunities that are accessible through Big Data science. The guided hands-on research experience combined with intense instruction in computational biology will empower participants to formulate their own inquiries and exercise their curiosity. Example projects include developing new technologies to probe spatial relationships in human genomes, CRISPR-aided cell lineage tracing in animals, and long-read technologies to understand the gene-regulatory activity of transposons in maize. A series of workshops led by experienced instructors will teach participants strategies to communicate their scientific knowledge, ideas, research findings, and personal journeys to a variety of audiences, including admission committees at STEM graduate programs and recruiters in industry. Each year results from the program assessment will be used to continually improve and refine the program design and student experience. 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.