IGERT: Distributed Renewable Energy: From Science and Technology to Entrepreneurship and Policy

这个综合研究生教育和研究培训（IGERT）奖支持多学科研究生培训计划的发展，重点是从太阳可获得的分布式可再生能源。研究将集中在廉价和环境友好的光伏材料，利用纳米技术和先进的光学设计有效捕获阳光，利用人工光合作用产生氢气，以及利用氢基燃料改进燃料电池等领域。研究还将探讨分布式能源所需的经济和商业模式的变化，以及采用可再生能源的动机，以促进其在市场上的采用。教育和培训计划包括在非洲合作大学的教学和实地考察，在美国或欧洲机构的实习，以及包括创业和社会科学在内的新课程，使学生成为有效的沟通者。该计划将培养在可再生能源领域接受过培训的科学领导者和企业家，他们准备在保护环境的同时推动可持续发展和全球繁荣的重大进展。重要的活动包括在非洲各大学进行教学和实地考察，以及让市中心的中学和当地社区参与。该计划的社会影响将用于促进从代表性不足的群体中招募科学，技术，工程和数学学生。IGERT是一个旨在应对美国博士教育挑战的NSF范围内的计划。具有跨学科背景的科学家和工程师，在所选学科的深厚知识，以及未来职业需求所需的技术，专业和个人技能。该计划旨在通过建立创新的研究生教育和培训新模式，在超越传统学科界限的合作研究的肥沃环境中促进研究生教育的文化变革。

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the development of a multidisciplinary graduate training program focused on distributed renewable energy sources available from the sun. Research will be focused in the areas of inexpensive and environmentally benign photovoltaic materials, efficient sunlight capture using nanotechnology and advanced optical design, hydrogen generation using artificial photosynthesis, and improved fuel cells using hydrogen-based fuels. Research will also explore the changes in economic and business models necessitated by distributed energy sources and what motivates the adoption of renewable energy to facilitate its adoption in the marketplace. The education and training plans include teaching and fieldwork at partner African universities, internships in U.S. or European institutions, and a new curriculum that includes entrepreneurship and social sciences, and makes students effective communicators. The program will produce scientific leaders and entrepreneurs trained in the field of renewable energy who are ready to initiate major advances leading to sustainable development and global prosperity, while protecting the environment. Significant activities include teaching and fieldwork in African universities and involvement of inner city high schools and the local community. The societal impact of the proposed effort will be used to foster the recruitment of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students from under-represented groups.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.