UC Irvine has been awarded a $2.9 million grant to develop a new multi-disciplinary graduate program that combines nanotech and medicine. The funding comes from *deep breath* the National Science Foundation’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program. From the UCI press release:
…Graduates of the LifeChips program will have the skills necessary to develop technology used to identify new drugs, facilitate stem cell research and improve scientists’ understanding of tissue, organs, genes, proteins, cells, DNA and other basic components of life.
The LifeChips program is innovative because students will study miniaturized technology as it applies to several scientific areas, allowing them to develop a broad base of skills. Biology students will learn engineering principles of design and manufacturing, enabling them to create useful and powerful tools for laboratory research, while engineering students will study life’s remarkable technology that has evolved over 3 billion years. Traditionally, students specialize in one area and occasionally collaborate with other disciplines.
More from the press release…