NRT-QL: Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantum Materials Science and Engineering

从青铜时代的冶金学到当今数字社会的半导体器件，利用和设计材料的有用特性一直是人类进步史上反复出现的主题。 量子材料是量子力学效应对其有用特性至关重要的材料，在这一技术进步中发挥了重要作用，但仍将继续发挥作用。 例如，人们对量子计算机的兴趣和兴奋感越来越大，政府和行业对量子科学研究和开发的资助也越来越多。这个国家科学基金会研究培训（NRT）奖耶鲁大学将创建一个跨学科的博士学位。量子材料计划，并为学员在量子材料科学与工程领域的有影响力的职业生涯做好准备。此外，该计划将加强和多样化美国在量子科学的科学和技术劳动力。该项目将培养30名博士。学生，包括17名获资助的学员，来自应用物理学、化学、计算机科学、机械工程与材料科学，以及物理学等学科。 该计划将通过教育，研究，行业和国家实验室暑期实习和专业发展提供培训。学员将成为创造，使用和理解量子材料的专家，同时获得团队科学，科学交流，推广，教学和指导技能的第一手知识。 这个NRT计划的研究计划集中在三个相关的主题：（a）在原子尺度上理解拓扑晶体纳米线的生长过程，（B）基于纳米线的拓扑互连及其电子传输特性的创建和工程，以及（c）用于潜在量子比特存储的拓扑超导纳米线。 跨学科和合作研究工作将汇集材料生长，通过电子传输和表面显微镜表征的实验工作，以及电子结构计算，机器学习和分子动力学模拟的计算工作。 例如，对于主题（a），第一性原理电子结构计算将提供有关可能材料配置的结构和能量数据，以训练机器学习模型，从而产生高质量的经典势能函数。这些可用于材料生长过程的大规模和长时间分子动力学模拟;然后将动力学中发现的关键结构配置反馈到第一原理计算中，以闭环方式重新校准和改进机器学习的势。培训的一个关键特征是一个新的旗舰课程，包含实践模块，允许学员分析来自各种NRT计划相关研究实验室的数据，这将向学员介绍量子材料科学和工程，NRT培训师和研究项目。NSF研究培训（NRT）计划旨在鼓励为STEM研究生教育培训开发和实施大胆的，新的潜在变革模式。该计划致力于通过创新的、基于证据的、与不断变化的劳动力和研究需求相一致的综合培训模式，在高优先级的跨学科或融合研究领域对STEM研究生进行有效培训。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Harnessing and engineering the useful properties of materials has been a recurrent theme in the history of human advancement from mastering metallurgy in the Bronze age to creation of semiconductor devices in today’s digital society. Quantum materials, which are materials where quantum mechanical effects are critical to their useful properties, have played an important part in this technological progress, but are poised to do so even more. For example, there is growing interest and excitement about quantum computers, as well as both government and industry funding of research and development in the quantum sciences. This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to Yale University will create an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program on quantum materials and prepare trainees for impactful professional careers in the field of quantum materials science and engineering. Additionally, the program will strengthen and diversify the US scientific and technical workforce in the quantum sciences. This program will train 30 Ph.D. students, including 17 funded trainees, from the disciplines of Applied Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, and Physics. The program will provide training through education, research, industry and national laboratory summer internships, and professional development. Trainees will become experts in creating, using, and understanding quantum materials, while gaining firsthand knowledge of developing skills in team science, science communication, outreach, teaching, and mentoring. The research plan of this NRT program focuses on three related themes: (a) understanding the growth processes of topological crystalline nanowires at the atomic scale, (b) creation and engineering of nanowire-based topological interconnects and their electron transport properties, and (c) topological superconducting nanowires for potential quantum bit storage. The interdisciplinary and collaborative research effort will bring together experimental efforts in materials growth, characterization via electron transport and surface microscopy, and computational work in electronic structure calculations, machine learning, and molecular dynamics simulations. For example, for theme (a), first-principles electronic structure calculations will provide structural and energetic data on likely materials configurations to train machine learning models to produce high quality classical potential energy functions. These can be used for large-scale and long-time molecular dynamics simulations of the material growth process; the key structural configurations found in the dynamics will then be fed back to the first principles calculations to recalibrate and refine the machine-learned potentials in a closed-loop manner. A key feature of the traineeship is a new flagship course, containing hands-on modules allowing trainees to analyze data from various NRT program-related research laboratories, that will introduce quantum materials science and engineering, the NRT trainers, and research projects to the trainees. 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 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.