Researchers working to sequence mammalian-sized genomes today rely on nanopore-based methods that are hampered by two significant bottlenecks that limit precision and hinder progress in the field, says theoretical physicist Murugappan Muthukumarat at UMass Amherst. He has a four-year, $1.39 million grant from NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute to overcome these hurdles to make way for a new wave of low-cost, rapid, high-quality sequencing technologies.

It has been long debated whether the Graduate Record Examinations (GREs) are an appropriate selection tool for graduate school admissions, and whether overreliance on GRE scores may compromise admission of students historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. Despite many concerns about the test, there have been few studies examining the efficacy of the GRE in predicting doctoral degree completion and even fewer examining this question in STEM fields.

Shannon Roberts, director of the College of Engineering Human Performance Laboratory, investigates the way people react to automation, with the goal of reducing traffic accidents.