NUE: From Clusters to Nanoparticles: Introducing Nanoscience to Education and Student Research at Jackson State University

本科教育（NUE）的纳米技术奖，由材料研究部和物理部资助，支持跨学科的合作努力，以整合杰克逊州立大学的纳米科学研究和教育。该项目的研究部分包括对以下团簇和纳米颗粒的计算和理论研究：（a）含有金属原子杂质的半导体团簇作为纳米电子元件，团簇与表面之间的相互作用，包封具有高磁矩的金属原子团簇的富勒烯作为生物医学成像中的新型对比剂。(b)金属奈米粒子尺寸相关的电子与光学性质、电子-电子交互作用的修正与因限制与表面效应而产生的屏蔽、尺寸相关的松弛过程及其在光学光谱实验中的表现。教育部分将介绍奈米科学的基本概念与方法至本科课程。计划设计一门普通教育课程和另一门更高级的课程。通识教育课程将是描述性的，将提供给整个大学的一年级和二年级学生。更高级的课程将针对第三或第四年的物理，化学和工程专业，并将包括在纳米科学研究中使用的一些实验和理论方法的基本描述。杰克逊州立大学是在密西西比最大的城市地区首屈一指的教育机构。作为一所历史悠久的黑人大学，JSU主要服务于当地社区的教育需求。该项目将使来自代表性不足的群体的大量学生接触纳米科学的基本概念。

This Nanotechnology in Undergraduate Education (NUE) award, funded by the Division of Materials Research and the Division of Physics, supports a collaborative interdisciplinary effort to integrate nanoscale science research and education in Jackson State University. The research component of the project includes computational and theoretical studies of clusters and nanoparticles: (a) Semiconductor clusters with metal atom impurities as nanoelectronic elements, interaction between clusters and surfaces, fullerenes encapsulating metal atom clusters with high magnetic moments as novel contrast agents in biomedical imaging. (b) Size-dependent electronic and optical properties of metal nanoparticles, modification of electron-electron interactions andscreening due to confinement and surface effects, and size-dependent relaxation processes and their manifestation in the optical spectroscopy experiments.The education component will introduce basic notions and methods of nanoscale science into the undergraduate curriculum. The design of a general education course and another more advanced course is planned. The general education course will be descriptive in nature and will be offered to first and second year students throughout the university. The more advanced course will target third or forth year physics, chemistry and engineering majors, and will include a basic description of some experimental and theoretical methods used in nanoscience research. Jackson State University is the premier educational institution in the largest urban area of Mississippi. Being a historically black university, JSU primarily serves the educational needs of the local community. The project will expose a large number of students from underrepresented groups to the basic notions of nanoscale science.