IGERT: A Graduate Traineeship in Materials for a Sustainable Future

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The development of the materials necessary for a sustainable future is an area of profound global and scientific importance. This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship program (IGERT) combines an interdisciplinary research experience with a formal education program designed to apply basic scientific knowledge to real problems in sustainable materials drawn from industrial interactions. Cornell faculty and student participants are united from 7 diverse departments of science and engineering and the Johnson School of Management and will have the opportunity to augment their research efforts with international collaborators. Intellectual merit includes the development of materials from renewable resources, including plant products, exploration of new, high performance materials for energy storage and conversion and the discovery of new methods for the synthesis and processing of materials with reduced environmental impact. Educational efforts feature a module-based course that will introduce students to the principles of sustainable design and the formidable energy challenges facing our society. Students will also gain familiarity with business thinking, industrial practices and business opportunities and challenges related to sustainability. The broader impacts of this IGERT program include partnerships with two Historically Black Colleges/Universities and an undergraduate summer research program will address the issue of underrepresented groups in the materials field. The IGERT program will also develop a freely available web-based archive of the seminar series on Materials for a Sustainable Future. 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.