US-Africa Forum on Nanotechnology Convergence for Sustainable Energy, Water and Environment

NSF已将融合研究和教育确定为未来投资的“十大理念”之一。本次研讨会的总体目标是推进融合研究和教育在美国（美国）通过提供一个平台，讨论和研究人员（包括研究生，博士后研究员和教师）之间的合作从美国和撒哈拉以南非洲（SSA）通过这第一个“美国-非洲论坛纳米技术融合可持续能源，水和环境”。南非大学（UNISA）将担任论坛的东道主。拟议的论坛将包括在纳米材料和纳米级现象方面进行基础研究（实验和建模）的研究人员与使用纳米技术作为融合平台以实现可持续能源，水和环境关系的研究人员之间的讨论。据论坛主席所知，这将是美国和非洲这些领域研究人员的最大聚会。论坛期间将举行全体会议和分组会议。在论坛的最后一天，每个与会者将被分配到三个同时举行的分组会议之一，专门讨论能源、水和环境问题。每次会议将由一名主持人主持，负责制定一份建议和主题清单，以启动美国和SSA科学家/工程师之间的合作研究活动，以推进纳米技术融合，实现可持续能源，水，与环境的关系。美国的全体会议和分组会议-非洲纳米技术融合论坛将于2019年8月11日星期一至8月15日星期四在约翰内斯堡的UNISA科学校园举行。讨论将由一个跨学科的角度，整合基础科学和工程应用的指导。在为期4天的论坛期间将讨论的专题和跨领域领域包括：1）用于能源生产和储存的纳米材料（例如光化学、燃料电池和电池），2）用于水净化的纳米材料（如处理、再利用和脱盐），3）用于CO2捕获和转化的纳米材料，以及4）用于（i）环境传感和监测的纳米技术，（ii）分离科学和技术;（iii）催化。除了促进美国和非洲科学家/工程师之间的合作研究外，论坛主席还将利用会议讨论和演讲来编辑和出版题为“非洲纳米技术融合”的《纳米粒子研究杂志》特刊，重点关注解决能源，水，食品，健康和环境方面的全球社会挑战的研究。此次研讨会的成功举办将促进有意义的合作，并在美国以纳米技术为平台推进融合研究和教育方面产生更广泛的影响。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。

NSF has identified Convergence Research and Education as one of the "10 Big Ideas" for future investment. The overarching goal of this workshop is to advance Convergence Research and Education in the United States (US) by providing a platform for discussion and collaboration between researchers (including graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty) from the US and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) through this first "US-Africa Forum on Nanotechnology Convergence for Sustainable Energy, Water, and Environment". The University of South Africa (UNISA) will serve as host for the forum. The proposed forum will feature discussion between researchers conducting fundamental research (experiments and modeling) in nanomaterials and nanoscale phenomena and those using nanotechnology as a convergence platform to achieve a sustainable energy, water, and environment nexus. To the Forum's Chairs knowledge, this would be the largest gathering of researchers in these fields from both the US and Africa. Both plenary and concurrent breakout sessions will take place during the forum. During the final day of the forum, each participant will be assigned to one of three concurrent breakout sessions devoted to energy, water and environment. Each session will be led by a facilitator and charged to develop a list of recommendations and topics to initiate collaborative research activities between scientists/engineers from the US and SSA to advance nanotechnology convergence for a sustainable energy, water, and environment nexus.The plenary and breakout sessions of the US-Africa Forum on Nanotechnology Convergence will be held at the UNISA Science Campus in Johannesburg from Monday August 11 through Thursday August 15, 2019. The discussion will be guided by a transdisciplinary perspective that integrates fundamental science and engineering applications. Topical and crosscutting areas that will be discussed during the 4-day forum include: 1) nanomaterials for energy generation and storage (e.g. photovoltaics, fuel cells and batteries), 2) nanomaterials for water purification (e.g. treatment, reuse and desalination), 3) nanomaterials for CO2 capture and conversion and 4) nanotechnology for (i) environmental sensing and monitoring, (ii) separation science and technology and (iii) catalysis. In addition to the facilitation of collaborative research between US and African scientists/engineers, the Forum Chairs will leverage the conference discussion and presentations to edit and publish a special issue of the Journal of Nanoparticle Research entitled "Nanotechnology Convergence in Africa" with a focus on research that addresses global societal challenges in energy, water, food, health and environment. The successful completion of this workshop is expected to catalyze meaningful collaborations with great potential for broader impacts in advancing Convergence Research and Education in the US using Nanotechnology as a platform.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.