UCLA IGERT - Materials Creation Training Program (MCTP)

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This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) renewal award supports the further development of the UCLA Materials Creation Training Program (MCTP). The MCTP enables trainees to master a specific discipline, while being immersed in the collaborative scientific cultures characteristic of careers of the future, as emphasized in the National Nanotechnology Initiative. Supported by the MCTP in their second and third years, students are trained in all aspects of the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel molecules and assemblies, and in the fabrication, characterization and marketing of devices based on these materials, including biosensors and biomaterials. The MCTP engages graduate students and faculty from Chemistry & Biochemistry, Physics, and the Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical and Aerospace, and Materials Science Engineering departments at UCLA. The trainees experience training in cross-disciplinary laboratories, classes and seminars in addition to their disciplinary graduate training and research. Key components of the program include: a co-advisor from a complementary discipline; an external internship at a company, government lab or abroad; participation in annual symposia, and training in the responsible conduct of research. To institutionalize the program, the MCTP courses will serve as the nucleus of new academic minors and a new interdepartmental PhD program in NanoScience and NanoTechnology. The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) will phase in support for MCTP fellowships and administration of these academic programs. New programs to enhance diversity and international research experiences of the trainees include a collaborative program with the UCLA Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, and a new MCTP Master Fellows Bridge Program in partnership with Cal State Los Angeles (CSULA) to enhance the training of Master's degree students at CSULA and increase the number of underrepresented students enrolling in STEM doctoral programs. The MCTP will continue its K-12 education and outreach partnership with the CNSI and Center X in the UCLA Graduate School of Education, through which the MCTP trainees work with teachers and high school students at underserved schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, providing hands-on experience with modern techniques, devices and materials. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.