The National Science Foundation awarded a team led by Professor Ajay Gopinathan and Carrie Kouadio funding to establish a summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at UC Merced. Interdisciplinary Biological Engineering and Science Training (I-BEST) program is affiliated with the CREST Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Machines (CCBM) CCBM already has one undergraduate academic-year fellowship program and one established summer research program focused on local students.