North Dakota: Research Infrastructure and Partnerships for Discovery

目标：北达科他州RII提案将汇集人员、工具和想法，为持久、有竞争力和前沿的研究基础设施奠定基础，主要关注可再生能源和柔性电子和材料的竞争性研究。这两个地区对北达科他州至关重要。知识价值：这项工作产生的新知识将导致对能源和微电子问题核心问题的更好理解。柔性电子材料（FlexEM）计划有三个主要的推动力：1)柔性电子的障碍；2)柔性电子用共轭有机聚合物；3)液态硅烷电子材料。提出的研究旨在薄膜和层状结构的设计、制备、表征、建模（以及最终的行为预测），这将使柔性电子技术如电子纸、光伏和健康监测设备成为可能。可持续能源研究基础设施和支持教育（SUNRISE）项目将阐明多相催化的基本方面，特别是在纳米尺度上，这与开发替代运输燃料和化学原料有关。多相催化剂的电子结构、表面形貌和缺陷、掺杂和功能化的影响、氧化还原性质和有限尺寸效应等方面的知识。具有合成可用于生产燃料、化学品和聚合物单体原料的优选有机化合物的潜力的催化剂将引起特别的兴趣。重点将放在过渡金属（如Co， Pd, Pt）催化剂的研究上。更广泛的影响：北达科他州代表性不足的主要群体是美洲原住民和妇女。培养美国部落本科生研究和教育（NATURE）是一个多方面的计划，大大增加了我们五所部落学院在STEM教育和研究方面的参与。ND EPSCoR项目还管理科学与工程领域的女性（WISE），为女性教师提供补充资金，用于实验室升级和增加研究人员。ND EPSCoR还为科学、数学、工程和技术领域的女性（WISMET）拨款，这是一个为女性本科生/研究生和女性教师提供指导的网络团体。在拟议的项目中，研究型大学校园的参与继续进行，并承诺为Flexem和SUNRISE计划提供四个新的终身教职岗位。北达科他州大学和NDSU将在更广泛的STEM领域招聘至少50名新教师。

Goals: North Dakota RII proposal will bring together people, tools, and ideas to lay the foundation for a durable, competitive and cutting edge research infrastructure with the primary focus on competitive research in renewable energy and flexible electronics and materials ? two areas of critical importance to North Dakota (ND). Intellectual Merit: New knowledge generated by this work will lead to greater understanding of issues at the core of problems in energy and microelectronics. The Flexible Electronic Materials (FlexEM) program has three major thrusts: 1) Barriers for Flexible Electronics; 2) Conjugated Organic Polymers for Flexible Electronics; and 3) Electronic Materials from Liquid Silanes. The proposed research aims at design, preparation, characterization, modeling, (and ultimately, prediction of behavior) of thin films and layered structures, which will enable flexible electronic technologies such as e-paper, photovoltaics, and health monitoring devices. SUstainable eNergy Research Infrastructure and Supporting Education (SUNRISE) program will elucidate fundamental aspects of heterogeneous catalysis, especially at the nanoscale, that are relevant to developing alternative transportation fuels and chemical feedstocks. Heterogeneous catalysts will be studied to gain knowledge about the electronic structure, surface morphology and defects, effects of doping and functionalization, redox properties, and finite size effects. Catalysts that show potential for the synthesis of preferred organic compounds that can be exploited to produce fuels, chemicals, and polymer monomeric feedstocks will be of particular interest. Emphasis will be placed on studies of transition metal (e.g., Co, Pd, Pt) catalysts. Broader Impacts: The major underrepresented groups in North Dakota are Native Americans and women. Nurturing American Tribal Undergraduate Research and Education (NATURE) is a multifaceted program that greatly increases the involvement of our five Tribal Colleges in STEM education and research. The ND EPSCoR program also administers Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) to provide supplemental funding to women faculty for lab upgrades and additional research staff. ND EPSCoR also appropriates funding for Women in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (WISMET) a networking group that provides mentoring for women undergraduate/graduate students and women faculty. The involvement on the research university campus continues in the proposed program with commitments to four new tenure track faculty slots for the Flexem and SUNRISE initiatives. At least 50 new faculty will be hired in the broader STEM areas at University of North Dakota and NDSU.