Project Grant 2548392

Federal Grant Award Summary

The Johns Hopkins University received a $584,498 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Biological Infrastructure under the Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074), effective April 15, 2026 through March 31, 2029. This Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site award supports a 10-week summer training program that will provide research mentorship to 12 interns annually across three summers, training a total of 36 undergraduate students, primarily from institutions with limited research opportunities. The trainees will conduct research in distributed laboratories of the Rosetta Commons located throughout the United States and internationally, focusing on artificial intelligence and computational approaches for biomolecular structure prediction and design.

The program delivers structured research training and professional development services aligned with NSF priorities in biotechnology, quantum information science, and artificial intelligence. Participating students will gain practical experience in computational molecular design, research methodologies across biochemistry and biophysics, and collaborative scientific practices while investigating biological problems from structural and computational perspectives. Program outputs include student research presentations at scientific conferences, assessment data collected through the SALG URSSA questionnaire via Qualtrics, participant tracking through the NSF ETAP system, and long-term career pathway monitoring. Representative research projects address antibody engineering, protein design using generative methods, and enzyme design applications relevant to biotechnology and nanotechnology advancement.