# Structural biology and molecular biophysics training program

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2024 · $439,487

## Abstract

The main goal of the Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics Training Program at the University of
Pennsylvania is to train a cadre of superlative students and put them on the trajectory to achieve success and
leadership roles at the highest levels of academic and industrial science in this core area of biomedical
research. We will leverage the immense resources, 45 outstanding faculty trainers, and talented graduate
students of UPenn to accomplish this goal. The program will do so with a premium put on training in the
technically challenging aspects of experimentation in this area of biomedicine, scientific thinking, integration of
structural biology and molecular biophysics research within the broader biomedical scientific community,
presentation skills, career-focused exploration, and achieving success through promoting and celebrating
diversity and inclusion in the scientific workplace and community. There is anticipated strong growth in the
number of jobs in Biochemistry and Biophysics, with a PhD representing the typical entry level education
requirement. Building on excellence that can be directly traced back to 1929 and the establishment of the
Johnson Research Foundation as the first privately endowed research organization in the USA dedicated to
biophysics, upon decades of NIH-supported training programs in Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics,
and upon the notable success of our trainees in the current funding cycle, we have developed plans to ensure
that our future trainees will enter the scientific workforce after being trained in a program that encompasses
broad training goals and in a research environment known for rigor and vibrancy. The institutional commitment
is strong and has been a consistent force that supports all aspects of the Training Program. A notable recent
initiative is a sizable additional investment in the establishment of the Penn Institute for Structural Biology that
will directly and positively impact the trainees in the funding cycle for which we request support. The Program
benefits from a tradition of using feedback from trainees, as well as ideas to innovate with newly arising
initiatives in graduate education and scientific breakthroughs (technical and conceptual), to continually adapt
and improve. The strategy to extend this tradition are now buttressed by linking an outcomes rubric that
defines success and a logic model meant to enable continuous improvement. Current major activities specific
to the training program are a two tiered series of trainer-led meetings. The first is open to all qualified students
and is required, along with two specific graduate-level courses, for subsequent appointment as a T32-
supported trainee. Both of these series are built in to our integrated training plan that includes the integration of
classroom and laboratory learning and discovery to prepare scientists, increase success on career paths in
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics, and to ensure flexibil...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10848597
- **Project number:** 2T32GM132039-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Ben E. Black
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $439,487
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10848597

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10848597, Structural biology and molecular biophysics training program (2T32GM132039-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10848597. Licensed CC0.

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