US-Africa Advanced Studies Institute on Environmental and Biological Applications of Lasers, January 2008, Cairo, Egypt

0750680百万美元该提案是为了支持将于2008年1月在埃及开罗举行的美非激光环境和生物应用高级研究所(EBAL2008)。合作科学家是马萨诸塞州剑桥市麻省理工学院高级讲师Sekazi Mtingwa博士和埃及开罗大学国家激光增强科学研究所(NILES)Mohamed Abdel-Harith博士。ASI将为美国和非洲的高级研究生以及选定的HBCU(美国历史上的黑人学院和大学)提供教育和培训。希望获得足够知识以开始在这些研究领域产生影响的教职员工。与此同时，EBAL 2008将允许一组杰出的美国和非洲研究人员规划未来将激光应用于环境和生物问题的方向。具体目标是：1)主办一个高级研究和学习研究所，将美国和非洲的专家、博士后、高级研究生和包括HBCU教师在内的其他研究人员聚集在一起，让他们对重要和令人兴奋的研究方向有最先进的、最前沿的看法；2)分享该领域新突破的信息；3)探索利益的共同点，促进美国和非洲研究人员之间的合作，特别是促进研究企业中的女性；4)在不同的参与机构之间建立联合研究项目。这次会议将让美国和非洲的高级研究生在职业生涯之初接触到可能对世界环境和健康产生最大积极影响的研究方向。非洲的努力主要集中在实验研究上。后者主要在非洲激光中心www.africanlasercentre.org的参与实验室进行，该中心是最近建立的一个实验室网络，战略上设在非洲大陆的30多个机构，以促进激光研究和培训活动。美国组织者将挑选美国博士后和高级研究生，并协助挑选非洲高级研究生。此外，美国组织者将根据他们在感兴趣的领域的显赫地位或他们获得从事这些学科所需的研究知识和工具的愿望来选择美国教师和高级研究人员。学术价值：该项目旨在弥合美国和非洲科学之间的鸿沟，因为美国和非洲的顶尖研究人员将有机会交流思想，建立新的联系。EBAL 2008研究所将重点研究激光与环境和生物系统相互作用的实验和理论方法。演讲者将介绍激光在环境污染物检测、农业方法、光动力疗法和微生物应用方面的当前理论和前沿实验的结合。这些主题提供了在微观(原子、分子和细胞)和宏观(组织、液体和气体)尺度上的高级研究活动的能力。一系列的研究主题提供了适当性和专业性的强有力的平衡。研究项目和相关团队为在非洲的医学、农业和气象学等有意义的领域开展新的合作提供了多样化的机会。主办机构国际和平研究所和参与研究的同事拥有坚实的集体研究记录和庞大的博士生基础，这将促进STEM，特别是激光科学领域中代表性不足的少数群体的增加。更广泛的影响：ASI将有益于美国和非洲的高级研究生和博士后，并允许非洲裔美国教师、研究人员和学生以及非洲同行的男性和女性参与。国际和平研究所和联合组织者代表了一个多元化的美国和国际教职员工群体，他们非常适合开展拟议的研究所，并促进埃及、南非和其他非洲国家在这一领域正在进行的研究。通过在EBAL会议上建立的联系，将开发新的合作途径。这次会议向美国研究人员开放了目前科学服务不足的世界部分，并向非洲的同事开放了美国研究人员，以帮助推动这两个大陆的研究。这个主题足够广泛，但同时也非常及时，可能会融合到生物燃料或激光医疗应用等快速增长的领域。ASI进一步促进了相关各方的全球意识，并为全球学生、博士后和研究人员的交流创造了有趣的可能性。

0750680 MtingwaThe proposal is for support of an Advanced Study Institute (ASI) for US-Africa on Environmental and Biological Applications of Lasers (EBAL 2008), to be held in Cairo, Egypt in January 2008. The collaborating scientists are Dr. Sekazi Mtingwa, Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Harith, National Institute of Laser Enhanced Science (NILES) at Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. The ASI will provide education and training for both U.S. and African advanced graduate students, and selected HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the U.S.) faculty who would like to acquire sufficient knowledge to begin having an impact in these research areas. At the same time, EBAL 2008 will allow a distinguished group of U.S. and African researchers to chart future directions for applying lasers to environmental and biological problems. Specifically the objectives are: 1) Host an advanced research and learning institute by bringing together U.S. and African experts, post-docs, advanced graduate students, and other researchers, including HBCU faculty, and giving them a state-of-the-art, cutting edge view of important and exciting research directions; 2) Share information on new breakthroughs in the field; 3) Explore the commonality of interests and promote collaborations between U.S. and African researchers, with special attention to promoting women in the research enterprise; 4) Establish joint research projects among different participating Institutions. The meeting will expose U.S. and African advanced graduate students at the beginning of their careers to research directions that could have the greatest positive impact on the world's environment and health. The African effort is to focus primarily on experimental studies. The latter is conducted mainly at the participating laboratories of the African Laser Centre www.africanlasercentre.org , which is a recently created network of laboratories strategically located at over thirty institutions on the African continent to promote laser research and training activities. The U.S. organizers will select U.S. postdocs and advanced graduate students and assist with the selection of African advanced graduate students. Also, the U.S. organizers will select U.S. faculty and senior researchers based upon their prominence in the fields of interest or their desire to acquire the research knowledge and tools necessary to pursue these disciplines. Intellectual merit: The project is to bridge the gap between US and African science, as leading US and African researchers will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and make new connections. The EBAL 2008 Institute will have a focus on both experimental and theoretical methodologies of the interaction of laser light with environmental and biological systems. The speakers will present the combination of current theory and cutting-edge experiments of lasers for detection of environmental pollutants, agricultural methods, photodynamic therapies, and microbiological applications. The topics offers capabilities for advanced research activity on both microscopic (atoms, molecules, and cellular) and macroscopic (tissues, liquids, and gaseous) scales. The array of research topics provides a strong balance of appropriateness and expertise. The research projects and associated teams provide a diverse opportunity for new collaborations in meaningful areas such as medicine, agriculture, and meteorology for Africa. The PI, the host institution, and the participating colleagues have a solid, collective research track record and large doctoral student-base that will promote an increase of under-represented minorities in STEM and the laser sciences in particular. Broader impacts: The ASI will be beneficial to both U.S. and African advanced graduate students and post-docs, and provides for involvement of men and women African American faculty, researchers, and students, along with their African counterparts. The PI and co-organizers present a diverse U.S. and international group of faculty well-suited to conduct the proposed Institute and promote ongoing research in Egypt, South Africa, and other African countries in this field. Through the connections made at the EBAL meeting, new avenues for collaboration will be developed. This meeting opens up a currently scientifically underserved part of the world to US researchers, and exposes US researchers to colleagues in Africa, to help advance research on both continents. The topic is sufficiently broad enough, but at the same time very timely, and could blend over into such rapidly growing fields as biofuels or medical applications of lasers. The ASI further promotes global awareness by all parties involved and creates interesting possibilities for global exchange of students, postdocs, and researchers.