REU Site at Kent State University: Liquid Crystals and Advanced Materials

本科生网站（REU）授予位于俄亥俄州肯特的肯特州立大学（KSU）的这一研究经验，支持10名学生在2021-2023年夏季进行为期10周的研究培训和专业发展。该网站由国防部与NSF REU计划和化学部合作支持，位于化学和生物化学系以及先进材料和液晶研究所。 计划中的研究项目预计将汇集一群不同的学生，他们将与教师导师密切合作，追求先进材料领域的科学发现，从纳米化学和软凝聚态物理到生物和聚合物材料。在这个REU计划的学生将参与科学过程的各个方面，从他们的项目的设计和执行，以解释和研究成果的传播，所有在合作和合议的气氛。学生还参加了强大的专业发展计划，帮助他们在STEM（科学，技术，工程和数学）导航他们未来的职业生涯。在这个REU网站的学生将进行研究项目，包括先进材料的许多领域。现有项目包括探索细菌在液晶和其他活性物质中的受控运动，研究DNA纳米组装和碳纳米材料，努力实现软物质中的手性放大，以及研究液晶弹性体和有机晶体管。学生专业发展规划包括研究伦理，分析和材料表征培训，以及洁净室培训，和多REU网站研究研讨会会议。学生是从两年制和四年制的机构和少数民族服务机构从全国各地，包括阿拉斯加招募。 除了接触到多学科的研究文化，这种经验创造了新的友谊，网络和愿望，预计将持续很长一段时间后，夏季的研究经验完成。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

This Research Experience for Undergraduates Sites (REU) award to Kent State University (KSU), located in Kent, OH, supports 10 students for 10 weeks of research training and professional development during the summers of 2021-2023. The site, supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU Program and the Division of Chemistry, is co-located in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as well as the Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute. Planned research projects are expected to bring together a diverse group of students who will work closely with faculty mentors to pursue scientific discovery in the area of advanced materials, from nano-chemistry and soft condensed matter physics to biological and polymeric materials. Students in this REU program will participate in all aspects of the scientific process, from design and execution of their project to interpretation and dissemination of research results, all in a cooperative and collegial atmosphere. Students also take part in robust professional development programming, helping them to navigate their future careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).Students at this REU site will undertake research projects encompassing many areas of advanced materials. Available projects include explorations of controlled motion of bacteria in liquid crystals and other active matter, studies of DNA nano-assemblies and carbonaceous nanomaterials, efforts to achieve chirality amplification in soft matter and studies of liquid crystalline elastomers and of organic transistors. Student professional development programming includes sessions on research ethics, analytical and materials characterization training, as well as clean room training, and a multi-REU-site research symposium. Students are recruited from two- and four-year institutions and minority serving institutions from various parts of the country, including Alaska. Aside from exposure to a multidisciplinary research culture, this experience creates new friendships, networks, and aspirations that are expected to endure long after the summer research experiences are completed.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.