Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Accelerated Catalytic Design and Characterization (ACDC)

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The Planning Grants for Engineering Research Centers competition was run as a pilot solicitation within the ERC program. Planning grants are not required as part of the full ERC competition, but intended to build capacity among teams to plan for convergent, center-scale engineering research. This planning grant will develop well-formulated plans for a future Engineering Research Center at the International Institute for Nanotechnology at Northwestern University that brings together a transdisciplinary team of researchers, educators, and stakeholders focused on the invention and development of new methodologies to dramatically accelerate materials discovery and design. Utilizing combinatorial nanoscience implemented in mega-libraries (libraries with billions of systematically varied particle compositions and sizes) for the rapid discovery and development of materials, critical for hydrogen production and utilization to create a cleaner, cheaper energy; nitrogen fixation to enhance food production; and water purification to yield access to clean water at lower cost and greater scale. The methodologies developed are likely to have applicability far beyond the catalytic solutions to societal needs recognized here.The planning activities will help develop a highly integrated convergent team within a framework of diversity and inclusion. The research mission will be sharpened into a crisp, singular vision for a successful ERC that has the potential to address significant societal needs. World leaders in the three key topical areas, water, food and energy, have been identified and the exchange of ideas that will occur in open symposia at which these individuals will participate will generate new ideas for exploiting the combinatorial approach. The knowledge gained through the advancement of this planning grant will be a benefit for all the participants, particularly the graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who will be highly involved in the full proposal preparation. Beyond the fields of nanoscience and catalysis, new knowledge about how best to facilitate and enhance convergent research will be discovered.This ERC Planning Grant will enable meaningful partnerships between academia, industry, and affiliated stakeholders to be developed and increase the potential for productive collaborations. The proposed planning activities will also enhance the infrastructure for future convergent research efforts and lay a foundation for innovative educational programs.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.