INTEGRATIVE PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAM
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has a long and distinguished record in photosynthesis research. Research at UIUC has contributed many of the seminal observations that have led to modern views of photosynthetic processes-from the mechanism of primary events in the picosecond time range, to factors limiting crop yields in the field.
The interdisciplinary nature that is characteristic of much modern biological research is especially strong in photosynthesis, which spans the range from physics to agronomy. This breadth is exemplified by the research programs at UIUC. For their success in future research, students must develop an interdisciplinary outlook and gain experience with a broad range of techniques. The Integrative Photosynthesis Research Training Program provides such training in a wide variety of basic research areas, combining molecular genetics, biochemistry, biophysical and physiological studies, and field measurements.
In the research training aspect of the program, primary research projects may be in areas ranging from the biophysics of energy conversion to the molecular basis of chilling sensitivity to adaptational mechanisms of species across environmental gradients and to changing environmental conditions. However, students are encouraged to develop research projects coordinated between two or more faculty laboratories, with distinct conceptual approaches. In this way research is experienced as a multidisciplinary enterprise.
Complementing their research training, students are informed of the role and status of photosynthesis in a global setting, addressing such issues as environmental stress, adaptation, limiting factors, and man-made impacts on photosynthesis and plant productivity. Through seminars, discussions and interactive pro-seminars given by the faculty and invited speakers, mechanistic knowledge, derived from laboratory advances in basic photosynthesis research at the molecular level, is integrated with the physiology of cells and whole plants and, ultimately, placed in an ecological and global context. Areas in most need of innovative research contributions are identified, both for their societal relevance and as potential career options for students.
Students are expected to graduate with a sophisticated research training and an understanding of interdisciplinary scientific method sufficient to be able to consider, evaluate, and implement diverse technical approaches to the solution of specific problems at various levels of biological organization.
In addition to graduate training, postdoctoral associates are also supported, and the involvement of undergraduates in hands-on research is encouraged through summer fellowships.
The Integrative Photosynthesis Research Training Program addresses fundamental questions in all aspects of photosynthesis through the curriculum and the intellectual environment provided by faculty and student participation. The cohesion of the photosynthesis research community at the University of Illinois is evident in many ongoing, collaborative projects, which span the spectrum from molecular biophysics to population ecology.
