REU Site: A Materials Science and Engineering Research Experience Focusing on Sustainability

非技术描述：本科生研究经验（REU）网站继续其使命，以提高科学和工程学科中代表性不足的少数民族的留校率和毕业率，并鼓励这些有才华的学生攻读科学和工程研究生学位。两年制和非博士的上进心学生。学位授予机构可以从事与材料科学和工程相关的跨学科研究项目。REU学生参与的研究项目侧重于了解可用于电子，健康科学和其他可持续性（能源和水资源保护）重要的技术领域的材料。技术描述：REU网站的目标是提高科学和工程学科中代表性不足的少数民族的留校率和毕业率，特别是来自低社会经济背景的西班牙裔/拉丁裔和女性，此外，鼓励这些有才华的学生攻读科学和工程研究生学位。实现这些目标的方法是，把重点放在为少数民族服务的两年制和四年制本科院校的学生身上，并确定应该鼓励在以后阶段就读研究生院的优秀参与者。REU网站的方法包括从目标机构招募有动力的学生，然后为他们提供与材料科学和工程相关的跨学科研究项目。在新的材料科学与工程计划的支持下，研究活动在加州大学圣克鲁斯分校进行。学生活动包括专业培训、每周小组会议、团队建设活动和最后的海报座谈会。REU网站的导师是加州大学圣克鲁斯分校的全职教师。研究项目包括跨学科的方法来研究材料的基本特性，这些材料在未来可能用于节能电子和光电子设备、量子计算以及收集、存储和使用可再生能源的新方法。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site continues its mission to increase the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented minorities in the science and engineering disciplines and to encourage these talented students to pursue post-graduate degrees in science and engineering. Motivated students from two-year and non-Ph.D. degree granting institutions are exposed to interdisciplinary research projects related to materials science and engineering. The research projects for the REU student participants focus on the understanding of materials that could be used in electronics, the health sciences, and other technological fields where sustainability (energy and water conservation) is important.TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: The objectives of the REU site are to increase the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented minorities in the science and engineering disciplines, especially Hispanics/Latinos from low socio-economic backgrounds and women, and furthermore, to encourage these talented students to pursue post-graduate degrees in science and engineering. These goals are achieved by focusing on students attending minority-serving two- and four-year undergraduate institutions and identifying outstanding participants that should be encouraged to attend graduate school at a later stage. The REU site’s approach consists of recruiting motivated students from the targeted institutions, and then providing them with interdisciplinary research projects related to materials science and engineering. The research activities take place at the University of California, Santa Cruz, under the auspices of the new Materials Science and Engineering Initiative. Student activities include professional training, weekly group meetings, team building activities, and the final poster symposia. The mentors for the REU site are full-time faculty at UC Santa Cruz. The research projects include interdisciplinary methodologies to study the fundamental properties of materials that in the future may be used in energy-efficient electronic and optoelectronic devices, quantum computing, and new ways of harvesting, storing, and using renewable energy.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.