Davis, California
September 12, 2007
Building expertise in putting
plants to work is the aim of a new training program run by
University of California Davis
with Tuskegee University
in Alabama.
The National Science Foundation will provide a five-year grant
of up to $3.1 million to support graduate students studying in
areas where plant sciences, biotechnology and engineering
overlap.
The Collaborative Research and Education in Agricultural
Technologies and Engineering (CREATE) program will focus on
using plant-derived products for biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and
industrial products such as enzymes and biomaterials, said
principal investigator Karen McDonald, professor of chemical
engineering and materials science, and associate dean of the
College of Engineering at UC Davis.
"It's timely because it combines plant sciences, biotechnology
and engineering, and UC Davis is in a prime position in these
areas," McDonald said. For example, one student might work on
genetically engineering a plant such as tobacco to produce a
vaccine, while another could develop technology to process crop
plants and extract the maximum value from them.
CREATE is an Integrative Graduate Education and Research
Traineeship (IGERT) program. The National Science Foundation's
IGERT grants are intended to encourage cross-disciplinary
training of graduate students.
The aim of the new program is to build a group of leaders with a
broad view of plant sciences, biotechnology and engineering and
an understanding of the wider economic, social and environmental
issues in the field.
Part of the program is a "Master's to Ph.D. bridge" that will
help students completing a master's degree at Tuskegee
University to transfer to UC Davis to study for a doctorate. New
classes will be developed specifically for the program, and
students will also complete a three-to-six month internship,
either in the biotechnology industry or overseas at the
University of Ireland, Maynooth, and the Teagasc Oak Park
Research Centre, Ireland.
All UC Davis graduate students taking part will be enrolled in
the Designated Emphasis in Biotechnology.
The other UC Davis faculty serving as co-investigators on the
grant are Jean VanderGheynst, associate professor of biological
and agricultural engineering, Pamela Ronald, professor of plant
pathology, Martina Newell-McGloughlin, director of the
University of California Biotechnology Research and Education
Program, and Abhaya Dandekar, professor of plant sciences. In
addition, 13 other faculty from the College of Engineering,
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, College of
Biological Sciences, College of Letters and Science, School of
Medicine and School of Veterinary Medicine will serve as faculty
trainers and mentors. |
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