Excellence in Graduate Polymer Research Symposium: An Interdisciplinary and International Forum for Future Leads, Spring 2010, San Francisco

从生物医学设备和水净化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，聚合物材料的进步将继续催化我们国家未来的关键技术。功能高分子材料需要我们对从纳米到厘米的长度尺度有基本的了解。我们对基本结构-性能-性能关系的持续关注对我们的持续成功和社会影响至关重要，研究策略需要跨学科和团队的愿景，以快速和综合的解决方案。正是这种跨学科的策略将使聚合物科学和工程有新的发现。这项研究计划将允许未来的领导者，目前是美国各地的研究生，聚集在一个独特的聚合物科学与工程国际论坛上。口头报告和互动海报会议将讨论关键的研究领域，包括理论和分子建模，聚合物设计和合成策略，聚合物表征使用最先进的技术，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，该论坛将鼓励科学网络的建立，并提高年轻聚合物科学家和工程师对跨学科研究必要性的认识。该研讨会将于2010年春季在加州旧金山举行的美国化学会全国会议上举行。NSF的资助将允许一些顶尖的研究生参加，确保多样化的参与，并展示跨学科研究对解决我们科学界面临的一些更复杂问题的重要性。该论坛将有助于表彰主要的研究生研究人员，并为研究伙伴关系以基层方式发展提供机制。研讨会将提供一个教育经验，学生将能够基准他们的研究策略和演讲技巧，与会者将提高他们对新兴主题的认识，在聚合物科学和工程的新边界。

TECHNICAL AND NON-TECHNICAL ABSTRACT 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. Functional 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 continued 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 future leaders, who are currently graduate students across the United States, 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 necessity for interdisciplinary research to younger polymer scientists and engineers. The symposium will occur at the 2010 spring national meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco, California. The NSF funding will permit the attendance of some 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. The forum will serve to recognize leading graduate student researchers and provide a mechanism for research partnerships to evolve in a grass-roots fashion. The symposium will offer an educational experience where students will be able to benchmark their research strategies and presentation skills, and participants will raise their awareness of emerging topics at new boundaries of polymer science and engineering.