REU Site in Interdisciplinary Materials Research

非技术描述：南伊利诺伊大学卡本代尔分校的REU网站将为每年平均14名本科生（包括2名内部支持的学生）提供研究机会，每年夏季为期9周。学生将参与广泛定义的材料研究领域的跨学科项目。来自各个学科（化学，物理，工程，微生物学和材料技术中心）的教师导师的加入将使REU学生能够培养在学术和工业研究环境中脱颖而出所需的技能，其中跨学科团队是标准的，研究人员必须跨学科有效沟通。学生还将被要求考虑他们的研究应用到新技术和新设备的制造，并将有机会向不同的观众展示他们的成果。该网站将主要从居住在邻近州或密西西比三角洲地区的2-/4年制机构，以及那些传统上来自代表性不足的群体的学生入学率高的机构招募。参加该网站的学生将学习通过各种社交活动与其他科学家和工程师建立联系，包括每周与教师导师共进午餐，以及周末前往文化，工业和娱乐场所。该网站的主要目标包括：（1）创造一个积极的形象，科学和工程作为一种职业选择。学生将离开该计划的考验，磨难，并等待他们的奖励更大的意义;（2）提供一个培育环境，并灌输在讨论和实践科学的艺术的信心;（3）提高参与者？这些措施包括：（1）提高学生的口头和书面沟通能力;（2）教授基本研究工具，包括文献检索和现代仪器的操作;（3）培养团队合作的研究方法;（4）增加国内学生的数量，特别是那些选择从事STEM职业的代表性不足的群体的学生。将遵循一项详细的评估计划，以便对我们的努力进行评估。技术说明：与本网站相关的指导研究项目承诺是材料和相关领域工作的绝佳培训场所。学生将接触到科学和工程前沿的各种变革性项目，包括：（1）与先进功能材料合成相关的研究（金属有机框架，无机异质结构，薄膜，纳米复合材料，新型电子接受材料;电纺纳米纤维，纳米尺度/微米尺度多相催化剂等）; (2)材料表征（通过电子显微镜、固态和溶液态核磁共振光谱、质谱、光/磁输运测量、紫外/可见/红外/二维红外/拉曼光谱等）; (3)理论/计算研究（其中学生将学习如何通过密度泛函理论计算，分子动力学模拟等来研究材料）;以及（4）材料应用，从能量存储和光致发光到生物传感器和造影剂，再到用于器件制造的聚合物光刻。该网站由国防部与NSF REU计划合作支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: The REU Site at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will provide research opportunities for an average of 14 undergraduates per year (including 2 supported internally) for a 9 week period each summer. Students will be involved in interdisciplinary projects in the broadly defined area of materials research. Inclusion of faculty mentors from various disciplines (Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Microbiology, and the Materials Technology Center) will enable the REU students to develop skills needed to excel in both academic and industrial research environments, where interdisciplinary teams are standard and researchers must communicate effectively across disciplines. Students will also be required to think about the application of their research to new technologies and the manufacturing of new devices, and will have the opportunity to present their results to a diverse audience. The Site will recruit primarily from 2-/4-year institutions residing in neighboring states or the Mississippi Delta region, as well as those with traditionally high enrollment of students from underrepresented groups. Students participating in this Site will learn to network with other scientists and engineers through various social activities including weekly lunches with faculty mentors and weekend trips to cultural, industrial, and recreational locations. Primary goals of the site include: (1) creating a positive image of science and engineering as a career choice. Students will leave the program with a greater sense of the trials, tribulations, and rewards that await them; (2) providing a nurturing environment and instilling a sense of confidence in the art of discussing and practicing science; (3) improving the participants? oral and written communication skills; (4) teaching of basic research tools, including literature searches and the operation of modern instrumentation; (5) fostering a collaborative teamwork approach to research; and (6) increasing the number of domestic students, especially those from underrepresented groups, who choose to pursue STEM careers. A detailed assessment plan will be followed to enable evaluation of our efforts. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: The mentored research projects associated with this Site promise to be excellent training grounds for working in materials and related fields. Students will be exposed to a variety of transformative projects at the forefront of science and engineering, including: (1) studies related to the synthesis of advanced functional materials (metal organic frameworks, inorganic heterostructures, thin films, nanocomposites, novel electron-accepting materials; electrospun nanofibers, nanoscale/microscale heterogeneous catalysts, etc.); (2) materials characterization (via electron microscopies, solid- and solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, optical/magnetic transport measurements, ultraviolet/visible/infrared/two-dimensional-infrared/Raman spectroscopies, etc.); (3) theoretical/computational studies (wherein students will learn how to study materials via density functional theory calculations, molecular dynamics simulations, etc.); and (4) materials applications varying from energy storage and photovoltaics, to biosensors and contrast agents, to polymer lithography for device fabrication. This site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.