REU Site - Plant and Microbial Bioscience for a Sustainable Future

About This Grant

This REU Site award to Washington University in St. Louis, located in St. Louis, MO, 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. At the core of the program is a focus on understanding biological organization, rules, and interactions across scales in a variety of plants and microbes and how those insights can drive innovation in agriculture, biomedicine, and sustainability science. The REU will provide foundational training for undergraduates interested in translating basic science discoveries to real-world applications and for fostering the next generation of broadly prepared STEM professionals. Students will learn how research is conducted, and many will present the results of their work at scientific conferences. Students should apply to the REU site using NSF ETAP (Education and Training Application: https://etap.nsf.gov). Students in the program will work with mentors in the Departments of Biology and Chemistry to conduct research exploring plant and microbial bioscience from foundational discovery to real-world applications. Examples of student projects include structural biology of plant natural product biosynthesis, profiling plant-microbe interactions, investigating cellular structure in mycorrhizal fungi and plant root arbuscule formation, evaluation of sensor proteins that detect indoles as environmental signals, and comparative analysis of microbial eukaryotes in the gut. In addition to research, the program delivers personal and professional development in a tiered mentoring community. Three pathways - Research Competencies, Graduate Admissions, and Biotech Exploration - provide professional and career support for all interns, as well as training in the safe, ethical, and rigorous conduct of research. From pre-arrival and orientation to weekly activities and the final symposium, the REU brings faculty, bench/peer mentors, and summer interns together in a community that fosters student success. REU students will be science ambassadors to their home institutions, the St. Louis bioscience community, and engage with the private sector, while performing research and exploring career paths in plant and microbial bioscience. 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.