Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium: An Interdisciplinary and International Forum for Future Leaders in Polymeric Materials, March 22-26, 2009, Salt Lake City, UT

技术优点：聚合物材料的进步继续催化我国未来的关键技术，从生物医学设备和净水膜中的带电聚合物到用于传感器和替代能源解决方案的导电聚合物。多功能聚合物材料需要我们在从纳米到厘米的长度尺度上进行基本的理解。我们对基础结构-财产-绩效关系的持续关注对于我们的持续成功和社会影响至关重要，研究战略需要快速和集成的解决方案的跨学科和协作愿景。正是这种跨学科战略将使聚合物科学和工程方面的新发现成为可能。这项研究提案将允许我们未来的领导人，他们目前是来自美国各地顶尖大学的研究生，聚集在一个独特的聚合物科学和工程国际论坛上。口头陈述和互动海报会议将讨论关键研究领域，包括理论和分子建模、聚合物设计和合成策略、使用最新技术的聚合物表征、基于聚合物的设备工程，以及对聚合物化学、物理、生物和工程界面的基本理解。此外，这个论坛将鼓励科学网络建设，并提高年轻的聚合物科学家和工程师对跨学科研究必要性的认识。研讨会将在犹他州盐湖城举行的美国化学学会2009年春季全国会议上举行。拟议的NSF资金将允许我们的一些顶尖研究生参加，确保多样化参与，并展示跨学科研究对于解决我们科学界面临的一些更复杂问题的重要性。更广泛的影响：大学和商业实验室立即认识到跨学科研究的重要性；然而，大学生真正体验科学和工程跨学科会议的机会仍然有限。例如，许多较年轻的学生没有机会在国际会议上进行口头陈述。最近戈登研究会议(GRC)组织的关注促成了聚合物材料研究生研究研讨会(GR)的形成；然而，由于其独特的教学方法和更具主题的计划，出席人数往往有限。一个名为“卓越的聚合物研究生研究”的综合性研讨会将为国际科学家和工程师提供一个培养国际合作精神的开放论坛。该论坛将用来表彰顶尖的研究生研究人员，并提供一种机制或研究伙伴关系，以便以基层方式发展。研讨会将提供一种教育体验，学生将能够对他们的研究策略和演讲技能进行基准测试，与会者将提高他们对聚合物科学和工程新领域新兴主题的认识。

AbstractTechnical Merit: Advances in polymeric materials continue to catalyze our nation's future critical technologies ranging from charged polymers in biomedical devices and water purification membranes to conducting polymers for sensors and alternate energy solutions. Multifunctional polymeric materials require our fundamental understanding at length scales ranging from nanometers to centimeters. Our constant attention to fundamental structure-property-performance relationships is critical for our continues success and societal impact, and research strategies demand an interdisciplinary and teamed vision for both rapid and integrated solutions. It is this interdisciplinary strategy that will enable new discoveries in polymer science and engineering. This research proposal will allow our future leaders, who ae currently graduate students from leading universities across the United Staes, to assemble in a unique international forum of polymer science and engineering. Oral presentations and interactive poster sessions will address key research areas including theory and molecular modeling, polymer design and synthetic strategy, polymer characterization using state-of-the-art techniques, engineering of polymer-based devices, and fundamental understanding of the interface of polymer chemistry, physics, biology and engineering. Moreover, this forum will encourage scientific network building and raise the awareness of the necessiry for interdisciplinary research to younger polymer scientists and engineers. The symposium will occur at the 2009 spring national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Salt Lake City, Utah. The proposed NSF funding will permit the attendance of some of our leading graduate students, ensure diverse participation, and showcase the importance of interdisciplinary research for solving some of the more complex questions that face our scientific community.Broader Impact: University and commercial laboratories immediately recognize the importance of interdisciplinary research; however, the opportunities for university students to truly experience an interdisciplinary meeting of science and engineering remain limited. For example, many younger students are not provided with the opportunity for an oral presentation at an international meeting. Recent attention from the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) organization has enabled the formation of Graduate Research Seminars (GRS) in polymeric materials; however, attendance is often limited due to their unique pedagogy and more thematically focused programs. An encompassing symposium entitled "Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research" will provide an open forum for international scientists and engineers to cultivate an international spirit of collaboration. The forum will serve to recognize leading graduate student researchers and provide a mechanismf or reasearch partnerships to evolve in a grass-roots fashion. The symposium will offer an educational experienc where students will be able to benchmark their research strategies and presentation skills, and participants will raise their awareness of emerging themes at new boundaries of polymer science and engineering.