REU Site: Soft Materials at Penn State

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TECHNICAL SUMMARY:This award supports the renewal of the Soft Materials REU at Penn State. A project-centered and team-oriented educational and research program is proposed to complement the training of a new generation of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers capable of crossing traditional academic boundaries. This REU in Soft Materials will continue to train undergraduate students with knowledge, perspective, and teamwork experience to inspire them to become Ph.D. candidates in Engineering and Sciences. Undergraduate students across Materials Science, Chemical Engineering, Energy Engineering and Chemistry will be trained in research areas organized around three themes: ion conduction in ion-containing polymers, biomaterials including function of biomacromolecules and self-assembled bio-structures, and thermodynamics and transport in polymer mixtures. The overarching theme of this REU is the study and development of novel soft materials. Specific objectives are to: 1) Provide students with hands-on experience on a variety of sophisticated analytical, (nano) fabrication, and computational techniques, while working in a project-centered collaborative research environment. 2) Produce a cadre of future scientists and engineers who have the ability to contribute across traditional disciplines and appreciate the wide-ranging scientific and engineering issues related to soft materials. REU students will participate in general activities, such as career development seminars, several social activities, and the final symposium. The REU program is envisioned as nucleating a "center-of-excellence for undergraduate research" in the field of soft materials, while considerably strengthening the education and research experience of our future materials leaders. We anticipate that more than 50 undergraduate students will participate over the three years of the program.This REU Site is funded by the NSF Division of Materials Research.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The REU in Soft Materials at Penn State will provide the scientific training for the generation of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers capable of crossing traditional academic boundaries. A special emphasis on outreach to individuals from under represented groups (such as women, Hispanics and African Americans) and persons with disabilities will be pursued, with the intent of attracting them to scientific/engineering careers. The program will train undergraduate students with knowledge, perspective, and teamwork experience to inspire them to become Ph.D. candidates in Engineering and Sciences. Research is organized around polymers, biological macromolecules and self-assembled bio-structures which have potential use in pharmaceutical, agricultural and other industries. Additionally, REU students will participate in general activities, such as career development seminars, several social activities, and the final symposium. Finally, graduate (as mentors) and undergraduate students will actively participate in the design and performance of experiments (including virtual experiments), and they will benefit from the interaction and immersion in a global collaborative research with international peers that complement the intensive training in theory, simulation, and/or experiment that they receive at their US home institutions. The REU program is envisioned as nucleating a "center-of-excellence for undergraduate research" in the field of soft materials, while considerably strengthening the education and research experience of our future materials leaders. We anticipate that more than 50 undergraduate students will participate over the three years of the program. This REU Site is funded by the NSF Division of Materials Research.