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

这项本科生研究经验（REU）奖授予位于俄亥俄州肯特郡的肯特州立大学（KSU），在2021-2023年夏季为10名学生提供为期10周的研究培训和专业发展。该站点由国防部与NSF REU项目和化学系合作支持，位于化学和生物化学系以及先进材料和液晶研究所。计划的研究项目预计将汇集不同群体的学生，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。该REU项目的学生将参与科学过程的各个方面，从项目的设计和执行到研究成果的解释和传播，所有这些都在合作和学院的氛围中进行。学生们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）领域的未来职业生涯中找到方向。在这个REU网站的学生将承担研究项目，包括许多领域的先进材料。可用的项目包括探索液晶和其他活性物质中细菌的控制运动，DNA纳米组件和碳质纳米材料的研究，在软物质中实现手性放大的努力以及液晶弹性体和有机晶体管的研究。学生的专业发展规划包括研究伦理、分析和材料表征培训、洁净室培训和多实验室研究研讨会。学生来自全国各地的两年制和四年制大学以及少数民族教育机构，包括阿拉斯加。除了接触多学科研究文化之外，这种经历还创造了新的友谊，网络和愿望，预计在夏季研究经历完成后很长一段时间内会持续下去。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。

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.