REU Site: Chemical Energy Storage and Conversion

这个为期三年的REU站点项目在宾夕法尼亚州立大学大学公园将专注于化学能量存储和转换的研究。每年有10名本科生将参与动手研究，这将帮助他们培养对这些技术进行批判性评估所需的技能，并加深对研究过程的理解。REU的参与者还将有机会与将在大学进行暑期研究的大量本科生互动和学习。除了研究经验外，REU学生还将参加一系列教育会议，重点关注以下主题：1)实验室安全和知情权法律；2)维护高质量的实验记录本；3)图书馆服务、电子数据库、引文索引；4)实验数据的统计分析。社会活动将是学生体验的一个组成部分，目的是在学生和教师导师之间建立友谊和合作关系。学生们将通过一系列的书面和口头报告步骤来指导，这些步骤将为他们提供创建“虚拟海报”所需的背景知识——一种可以通过网络共享的多媒体研究报告。这个虚拟海报也将是可移动的，允许REU学生与他们家乡大学的学生和教师、项目合作者和未来的REU参与者分享他们的工作。最后，首席研究员（PI）将使用虚拟海报作为未来REU申请人的招募工具。建议的活动有何更广泛的影响？这个REU网站计划的目标是吸引全国范围内优秀和高度多样化的学生群体。招聘工作将在一些规模较小的（主要是文科）机构的自然和物理科学项目中进行，包括布林莫尔、斯沃斯莫尔、林肯大学和朱尼亚塔大学。此外，还将努力吸引巴克内尔、维拉诺瓦和拉斐特等规模较小的学校的学生，这些学校有本科工程课程，但研究生研究活动有限。该计划的参与者将被激励和鼓励进行研究生学习。越来越多的人认识到化石和燃料资源日益减少，再加上能源安全的挑战和能源消费对环境的影响，正在推动广泛的研究工作，以改进和开发新的能源储存和转换技术。宾夕法尼亚州立大学在替代能源技术研究方面走在前列，全校都在能源相关研究中发挥领导作用。

This three-year REU Site program at Pennsylvania State University, University Park will focus on research in Chemical Energy Storage and Conversion. Ten undergraduate students each year will engage in hands-on research that will help them develop the skills needed for the critical evaluation of these technologies and a deeper understanding of the research process. The REU participants will also have the opportunity to interact and learn from the large number of undergraduates who will be conducting summer research at the university. In addition to the research experience, REU students will be engaged in a series of educational meetings focused on the following topics: 1) Laboratory Safety and Right-to-Know laws; 2) Maintaining a high-quality laboratory notebook; 3) Library services, electronic databases, and citation indices; and 4) Statistical analysis of experimental data. Social activities will be an integral part of the students' experience with the goal of building friendships and collegiality between the students and faculty mentors. Students will be guided through a series of written and oral presentation steps that will provide them with the background they need to create a "virtual poster"- a multimedia presentation of their research that can be shared via the web. This virtual poster will also be transportable, allowing REU students to share their work with students and faculty at their home universities, project collaborators, and future REU participants. Finally, the Principal Investigator (PI) will use the virtual posters as a recruiting tool for future REU applicants.What are the broader impacts of the proposed activity?The goal of this REU Site program is to attract an outstanding and highly diverse group of students nationwide. Recruitment efforts will be done at a number of targeted natural and physical science programs at smaller (primarily Liberal Arts) institutions, including Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, Lincoln University, and Juniata. In addition, efforts will be made to attract students from smaller schools like Bucknell, Villanova, and Lafayette that have undergraduate engineering programs but limited graduate research activities. Participants in the program will be motivated and encouraged to pursue graduate study.The increasing realization of diminishing fossil and fuel resources, coupled with the challenge of energy security and environmental impact of energy consumption, are motivating extensive research efforts in improving and developing new energy storage and conversion technologies. Pennsylvania State University is at the forefront in research in alternative energy technology, with a university wide initiative to take a leadership role in energy-related research.