REU Site: Nanoscale Materials Science and Engineering at Vanderbilt University

技术总结在美国国家科学基金会材料研究部和工程部以及国防部保证计划的支持下，范德比尔特纳米科学与工程研究所(VINSE)本科生暑期研究经验(REU)计划将为STEM本科生提供与教职员工在纳米科学与工程领域的前沿研究项目密切合作的机会。VINSE教师将在物理学家、化学家、生物学家和所有工程师协作解决问题和创造新的科学理解的环境中为REU学生提供真正的跨学科研究体验。这项研究的首要主题是纳米材料的创新和制造。除了在VINSE教师导师的附属研究实验室工作外，每个学生都可以访问VINSE实验室，这些实验室是共享设施。REU网站将正式教育相关的研究生、博士后助理和教职员工如何指导REU学生，设计适当的研究项目，并形成相互支持的群体认同。该项目的目的是在学生和参与其中的教职员工之间建立一种共同体意识，并让学生广泛接触纳米科学和工程的前沿研究。该计划将重点招收来自代表性不足的少数群体和STEM研究机会有限的学校的学生。非技术性总结纳米科学和纳米技术基于在纳米尺度上系统地合成、组织、表征和操纵物质的能力，创造出独特的功能材料，可以是无机、有机或生物，也可以是其中任何两种或两种以上的混合体。纳米科学和工程的跨学科性质意味着它本质上涉及所有的科学和工程，因此需要以跨学科的方式培训所有级别的学生，这个本科生研究经历(REU)网站将通过将范德比尔特大学在纳米尺度的独特跨学科研究机会与参与基于学科的实验实验室或计算环境的研究相结合，提供坚实的培训。因此，通过这个跨学科暑期项目培训的学生将带着对成功地为纳米科学和纳米技术的新兴学科做出贡献所需的技能的欣赏离开。REU的学生还将通过参加范德比尔特暑期学校为对纳米科学和纳米技术感兴趣的有天赋的高中生提供将研究与教育和推广相结合的培训机会。该网站得到了国家科学基金会材料研究部和工程局以及国防部保证计划的支持。

TECHNICAL SUMMARYWith support from the Division of Materials Research and the Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation as well as the Department of Defense ASSURE program, the Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE) summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program will offer STEM undergraduate students the opportunity to work closely with faculty on forefront research projects in the field of nanoscale science and engineering. VINSE faculty will provide REU students with a true interdisciplinary research experience in an environment where physicists, chemists, biologists, and all engineers collaboratively solve problems and create new scientific understanding. The overarching theme of the research is nano-materials innovation and fabrication. Each student will have access to the VINSE laboratories, which are shared facilities, in addition to working in the affiliated research lab of the VINSE faculty mentor. The REU site will formally educate involved graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and faculty on how to mentor the REU students, to design an appropriate research project, and to form a mutually supportive group identity. The program is designed to build a sense of community among the students and the participating faculty, as well as expose the students broadly to research at the leading edge of nanoscale science and engineering. The program will put strong emphasis on recruiting students from under-represented minority groups and schools with limited STEM research opportunities.NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYNanoscience and nanotechnology are based on the ability to synthesize, organize, characterize, and manipulate matter systematically at the nanoscale, creating uniquely functional materials which can be inorganic, organic or biological, or a hybrid of any two or more of these. The interdisciplinary nature of nanoscale science and engineering means it inherently involves all of the sciences and engineering, resulting in the need to train students at all levels in an interdisciplinary manner, and this Research Experiences for Undergraduate (REU) site will provide a solid training by combining Vanderbilt University's unique interdisciplinary research opportunities at the nanoscale, with participation in research in a discipline-based experimental laboratory or computational setting. Consequently, students trained through this interdisciplinary summer program will leave with an appreciation of the skills needed to successfully contribute to the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The REU students will also be offered the opportunity for training in the integration of research with education and outreach through participation in the Vanderbilt Summer Academy for gifted high school students who have expressed an interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The site is supported by both the Division of Materials Research and the Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation as well as the Department of Defense ASSURE program.