REU Site: Purdue Undergraduate Research Experiences for Plant Biology and Data Science (PURE-PD)

This REU Site award to Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, IN, will support the training of 10 students for 10 weeks during the summers of 2025-2027. It is anticipated that a total of 30 students, primarily from schools with limited research opportunities, will be trained in the program. The Purdue Undergraduate Research Experiences for Plant Biology and Data Science (PURE-PD) program provides hands-on research opportunities via data-driven research projects in plant biology. Through mentorship and professional development, students will gain valuable transferrable skills applicable to careers in plant biology and related STEM fields to strengthen US workforce development. Student participants will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. The effectiveness of the REU site will be assessed using student feedback and by tracking the career path and publication record of program participants. Students should apply to the REU site using NSF ETAP (Education and Training Application: https://etap.nsf.gov. Developed as an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Purdue Center for Plant Biology and Libraries and School of Information Studies, the PURE-PD program aims to provide student participants with advanced training in basic plant biology and data science. Research projects in the PURE-PD program are diverse and include the regulation of nutrition signals, plant health monitoring, plant host-pathogen interactions, and the regulation of developmental processes, which collectively offer a significant and agriculturally relevant research environment for student participants. In addition, each student will be involved in professional development activities including research ethics, research data management and scholarly communication. The design of the professional development activities included in the program is evidence-based and will allow student participants and their mentors to master best practices in scientific research. Candidates will be selected based on a holistic review process involving REU leadership and faculty mentors. A comprehensive evaluation will be conducted at the end of each summer session for the iterative improvement of the 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.