REU Site: Application of Microscopy and Microanalysis in Multidisciplinary Research

技术摘要：美国国家科学基金会材料研究部将资助波特兰州立大学(PSU)夏季REU场地。虽然该计划的目标将继续侧重于通过让本科生参与实践研究来激励他们在科学和工程领域追求职业生涯，但美国退伍军人将加入目标人群，以满足我们归来部队对教育和技术培训的迫切需求。该计划的这一补充进一步扩大了这一多学科计划的覆盖范围，该计划包括由17名教师导师代表的七个研究领域。教师的热情、前沿的研究项目和精心设计的培训活动相结合，激励学生在相关领域继续深造和职业发展。具体地说，该网站将为全国的学生提供参与尖端研究的机会，这些研究涵盖纳米材料合成、生物和地质样品的表征、纳米器件制造以及关于大气微量气体对气候变化影响的调查。通过集中的暑期项目，参与者将获得技术培训，进行独立研究，参观当地的高科技行业，在REU研讨会上展示他们的研究，并在专门设计的在线期刊上发表他们的论文。暑期计划将以为期三天的研究方向开始，包括实验室安全、图书馆数据库搜索和研究生院应用方面的研讨会。还提供了一门密集的短期课程，培训学生使用电子和聚焦离子束显微镜和光谱学来表征材料和器件。然后，学生们将在七个系的教员提供的研究项目中使用这些获得的技能。人们高度期待，REU的参与者将带着适用于所有学科的典型技能(电子显微镜)离开夏季项目，并对可持续技术的影响和可行性有更广阔的视角。非技术性总结在过去的几个资助周期中，波特兰州立大学的REU网站获得了妇女和少数族裔的高度参与，仍然是第一个也是唯一一个由国家科学基金会赞助的PSU网站，也是波特兰大都市区唯一的REU网站。关于更广泛的影响，该网站为未被充分代表的女性和少数族裔学生以及跨学科的美国武装部队退伍军人学生提供参与对其职业发展至关重要的研究的机会。此外，私人投资机构与其他主要投资者和项目负责人建立了关系，允许他们的实习生和学生参加结构良好的培训活动。这反过来又使REU参与者接触到了多种视角。这与该项目的多学科性质非常吻合，并有助于放大该项目培养出一批独特的毕业生的努力--这一群体尊重多样性，重视团队合作，并珍视研究和技术开发的多学科方法。

TECHNICAL SUMMARY:The Division of Materials Research at the NSF will fund the summer REU site at Portland State University (PSU). While the objective of the program will continue to focus on inspiring undergraduate students to pursue careers in science and engineering by involving them in hands-on research, US military veterans will be added to the targeted demographic in order to fulfill a pressing need for educational and technical training for our returning troops. This addition to the program further broadens the reach of this multi-disciplinary program that encompasses seven fields of study represented by seventeen faculty mentors. The combination of faculty enthusiasm, cutting-edge research projects, and thoughtfully designed training activities motivates students to pursue further education and careers in related fields. Specifically, the site will offer students nationwide the opportunity to take part in cutting-edge research spanning nanomaterials synthesis, characterization of biological and geological samples, nanodevice fabrication and investigations concerning the impact of atmospheric trace gases on climate change. Through a concentrated summer program, the participants will obtain technical training, conduct independent research, visit local high-tech industries, present their research at an REU symposium, and publish their papers in a specially designed online journal. The summer program will begin with a three-day research orientation including workshops on laboratory safety, library database searches, and graduate school applications. Also offered is an intensive short course that trains students in using electron & focused ion beam microscopy and spectroscopy for material and device characterization. Students will then use these acquired skills in research projects offered by faculty from seven departments. It is highly anticipated that REU participants will leave the summer program with a quintessential skill (electron microscopy) applicable to all disciplines and a broader perspective of the impact and feasibility of sustainable technologies. NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARYOver the last several funding cycles, the REU site at Portland State University has achieved a high level of participation from women and minorities and remains the first and only NSF sponsored REU site at PSU and the only one in the Portland metropolitan area as well. Concerning the broader impact, this site provides opportunities for underrepresented female and minority students as well as students who are veterans of the US Armed Services across disciplines to participate in research critical to their career development. Furthermore, the PIs have developed relationships with other principle investors and project leaders, allowing their interns and students to participate in well-structured training activities. This, in turn, exposes the REU participants to multiple perspectives. This dovetails nicely with the multi-disciplinary nature of this program and helps to magnify the program's effort to produce a unique cohort of graduates - a group that honors diversity, values teamwork, and prizes multi-disciplinary approaches to research and technology development.