NRT-QISE: Bridging the Gap Between 2D Quantum Materials and Engineering in STEM Education

二维量子材料作为具有新特性的材料和从量子计算到可再生能源的潜在应用的孵化器，其重要性正在迅速增长。然而，这个国家缺乏训练有素的劳动力，他们有足够的资格来开发和商业化由此产生的技术。这项授予阿肯色大学的国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）奖将通过对未来科学家和工程师的研究生教育的整体方法，包括技术知识和个人/专业“软技能”的发展，为STEM学生提供二维量子材料和器件（2D-QMaD）的新的，跨学科和可持续的教育体验。该项目将培养57名硕士生和博士生，其中包括27名受资助的学员。这将是阿肯色大学跨学科材料科学与工程（MSEN）研究生课程和MonArk量子铸造厂（蒙大拿州立大学和阿肯色大学之间的国家科学基金会资助的合作伙伴关系，为开发2D材料和设备开发类似铸造厂的环境）之间的直接合作伙伴关系。这项工作本质上连接了MSEN，物理，电气工程，以及化学，机械工程和计算机工程等学科。这个培训计划的独特指导原则主要可以分解为几个关键部分。这包括：A)通过必修的研讨会课程纳入专业实践和软技能培训；B)由高水平博士生领导和指导的行业启发团队和小团队的创建和利用；C)高度重视创业和技术商业化方面的教育。D)由11个支持部门和3所学院/学院的50多名教师开发和教授的核心和选修课程，以及E)同一教师的综合研究，通过提供实践软技能培训的材料，反馈到组成部分a。学员将有机会学习和反馈广泛不同的研究课题和个人观点。目标是培养在快速发展的二维量子材料领域中成为科学、工程和创业之间桥梁的学员。拟议的学员课程（包括：量子力学、量子计算、量子输运、材料表征和机器学习，以及材料核心课程）将促进量子材料领域的研究进展，更具体地说，是在二维量子材料领域，同时为学员提供未来发现所需的技能。该项目将在MSEN研究生项目中创建一个新的永久集中研究，2D-QMaD。美国国家科学基金会研究实习生（NRT）计划旨在鼓励开发和实施大胆的、具有潜在变革性的STEM研究生教育培训新模式。该项目致力于通过创新、循证、适应不断变化的劳动力和研究需求的综合培训模式，在高优先级跨学科或融合研究领域对STEM研究生进行有效培训。 该项目由NRT和促进竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。 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。

The convergent field of Two-Dimensional Quantum Materials is rapidly growing in importance as an incubator for materials with new properties and potential applications from quantum computing to renewable energy. However, there is shortage of trained workforce in the nation that is sufficiently qualified to develop and commercialize the resulting technologies. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Arkansas will provide a new, interdisciplinary, and sustainable educational experience in Two-Dimensional Quantum Materials and Devices (2D-QMaD) for STEM students through a holistic approach to graduate education of future scientists and engineers, including development of both technical knowledge and personal/professional “soft skills”. The project will train fifty-seven (57) masters and doctoral students, including twenty-seven (27) funded trainees. This will be in direct partnership between the University of Arkansas’s interdisciplinary Materials Science and Engineering (MSEN) graduate program and the MonArk Quantum Foundry (an NSF funded partnership between Montana State University and the University of Arkansas to develop a foundry-like environment for the development of 2D materials and devices.) This work inherently bridges the disciplines of MSEN, Physics, Electrical Engineering, as well as Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Engineering.The unique guiding principles of this traineeship program can primarily be broken down into several key components. These are: A) inclusion of professional practice and soft-skills training via the required seminar courses; B) creation and utilization of industry inspired cohorts and small teams led and mentored by upper-level doctoral students; and C) strong emphasis on education in entrepreneurship and commercialization of technology. These professional skills are enhanced by D) a core and elective curriculum developed and taught by over 50 faculty from 11 supporting departments and three schools/colleges, with E) integrated research by the same faculty that feeds back into component A by lending material for practicing the soft-skills training. The trainees will have the opportunity to learn and give feedback to widely varying research topics and individual points of view. The goal is to cultivate trainees who become the bridge between science, engineering, and entrepreneurship within the rapidly growing field of 2D quantum materials. The proposed curriculum for the trainees (including: quantum mechanics; quantum computing; quantum transport; materials characterization; and machine learning, in addition to the materials core courses) will facilitate research progress in the area of quantum materials and more specifically in 2D quantum materials, while giving the trainees the required skills to make future discoveries. This project will create a new permanent concentration of study, 2D-QMaD, within the MSEN graduate program.The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs. This project is jointly funded by NRT and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).  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.