Upgrade end-of-life cryogenic components of NMR spectrometer
Abstract
This application seeks to replace the cryoprobe and cryoplatform of the only nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer at UC Merced that is configured for biomolecular experiments. Installed twelve years ago, these cryogenically cooled components have reached Òend-of-lifeÓ, in that the vendor, Bruker BioSpin, has informed us that it can no longer guarantee providing repairs because many parts are no longer manufactured. (Note that non-cryogenically cooled components will still be covered under a service contract for several more years and are not in this proposal.) At least seven labs across the Schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering rely on the unique capabilities of this 14.1 Tesla biomolecular spectrometer. Virtually all of the users of the UC Merced biomolecular spectrometer are graduate and undergraduate students who, after training, largely set up their own experiments. Opened in 2005, UC Merced does not yet have the extensive NMR infrastructure of the other UC campuses, and is located in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley of California (SJV), which is hours away by car from the next nearest biomolecular NMR spectrometers (at UC Davis, UC Berkeley, and UC Santa Cruz). Thus, hands-on student training and experience in biomolecular NMR at UC Merced would be severely diminished if its sole biomolecular spectrometer were to become inoperable due to failure of the cryoprobe or cryoplatform. UC Merced is a Minority Institution with 55% of the student body identifying as Hispanic (www.ucmerced.edu/fast-facts), many of whom are the first in their family to attend college. Indeed, UC MercedÕs mission is to increase college-going rates among students in the mostly Hispanic SJV (www.ucmerced.edu/about). Replacing the end-of-life components on the only biomolecular NMR spectrometer at UC Merced helps continue this mission and provides these students with the highest-quality education and training in science, technology, engineering, and math that prepares them for a competitive job market. The biomolecular NMR spectrometer has been and continues to be essential to multiple research projects supported by the U.S. Army Research Office (W911NF-10-1-0090, W911NF-17-1- 0434, W911NF-20-1-0268) and U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-13-1- 0154, FA9550-17-1-0447). This support by DoD Agencies has been foundational to the training of diverse graduate and undergraduate students, and also economically disadvantaged high school student researchers each summer. ARO and AFOSR awards have resulted in research articles published in prestigious high impact journals such as The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (impact factor, 9.6), Molecular Systems Biology (impact factor, 9.8), and Science (impact factor, 41.1). Note that funds from these DoD Agency grants are plowed back into the UC Merced NMR Facility as recharge fees that maintain not only the biomolecular spectrometer, but also two other lower-field spectrometers used by non-biomolecular labs. Therefore, replacing the end-of-life components on the biomolecular spectrometer is essential to providing a unique STEM capability at UC Merced that is essential to the research programs of graduate and undergraduate students, postdocs, and PIs. This single instrument plays a critical role in campus-wide efforts to raise the research profile of UC Merced, help in its aspiration to transition from an R2 to R1 institution, and fulfill its educational and training missions in the SJV. In short, upgrading the biomolecular NMR spectrometer will yield beneficial outcomes to UC MercedÕs educational, training, and research programs, thereby attracting diverse students who deserve the highest quality preparation for competitive STEM-based careers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jun 25, 2021
- Source ID
- W911NF2110154
Entities
People
- Andy LiWang
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- University of California