2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This International Research Experience for Students (IRES) NSF project (IRES: Artificial Intelligence and Data Science for the Understanding, Prediction and Prevention of Disease (AI-UPP)) focuses on creating an immersive international summer research experience in Stockholm for students enrolled in a primarily undergraduate institution (PUI). Over the course of a three-year grant period, this IRES site seeks to: (1) develop and disseminate artificial intelligence (AI) and data science tools aimed at understanding, predicting and preventing disease; (2) train and mentor 24 diverse undergraduate students from PUIs in AI and/or data science research in a collaborative and international setting; (3) encourage and prepare undergraduate students from PUIs for enrollment in graduate programs in computer science, artificial intelligence, bioengineering, bioinformatics, or related fields; (4) foster existing collaborations and develop new research collaborations between [Blinded] and scientists in Sweden; and (5) develop a diverse cohort of globally engaged scientists/engineers that seek career opportunities and collaborators throughout the world.

This program represents a new international research experience for undergraduates who attend a PUI in the United States. Each year, eight undergraduate students enrolled in bioengineering, biomedical engineering, computer science, bioinformatics and/or computational/mathematical biology programs will be sent to Stockholm for 10 weeks to work with one of seven host labs at [Blinded]. The students will work on projects which have specifically been co-designed by host lab researchers and the program director to provide students with a structured research project at the appropriate academic level which also meaningfully contributes to the host lab’s research program. These projects will all center around a common theme of developing AI and data science tools for the analysis of large biological datasets to aid in the understanding, prediction and prevention of disease. In addition, the students will participate in pre-departure research training, pre-departure cultural training, professional development workshops, a visit to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), an open forum on the use of AI in health, cultural outings in Stockholm, a final research presentation symposium, a career readiness workshop series, and be able to present their work at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) annual meeting. This paper reports on the first year of the grant, program structure and discusses the efforts by the PI to properly prepare students to conduct their summer research project.