The National Science Foundation Division of Engineering Education and Centers awarded Trustees of Tufts College $456,048 on January 1, 2027, to establish and operate SALSA (Scaffolds Across Length Scales), a new Research Experiences for Undergraduates site program.
SALSA will host ten undergraduates each summer in a ten-week research program at the interface of biotechnology and materials science, jointly hosted by Tufts' Biomedical Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering departments. Student researchers—including those with little or no prior research experience and those from community colleges and institutions with limited research infrastructure—will work on projects spanning engineered materials for wound healing and biomaterials that model tumor response to chemotherapy, mentored by ten faculty members across both departments. The program integrates professional development lunches, journal club meetings, and industry site visits to companies including Moderna, Flagship Pioneering, and Vertex. Partnerships with the Tufts Gordon Institute expose students to entrepreneurship and the commercialization pathway from academic research to technology, while collaboration with the Tufts Summer Scholars Program integrates participants into a broader campus research community. The award funds research and educational activities under the NSF Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), which supports innovation and excellence in engineering research and education. Performance occurs at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, through December 31, 2029.