REU Site in Interdisciplinary Materials Research

非技术描述在南伊利诺伊大学卡本代尔REU网站提供研究机会，平均每年14名本科生（包括2个内部支持）为9个星期的时间，每年夏天。学生参与材料研究的广泛定义领域的跨学科项目。来自不同学科（化学，物理，工程，生物和材料技术中心）的教师导师的加入使REU学生能够培养在学术和工业研究环境中脱颖而出所需的技能，其中跨学科团队是标准的，研究人员必须跨学科有效沟通。学生还需要考虑他们的研究应用到新技术和新设备的制造，并有机会向不同的观众展示他们的成果。该网站主要从居住在邻近州或密西西比三角洲地区的2-/4年制机构，以及那些传统上来自代表性不足的群体的学生入学率高的机构招募。参加本网站的学生学习通过各种社交活动与其他科学家和工程师建立联系，包括每周与教师导师共进午餐，周末前往文化，工业和娱乐场所。该网站的主要目标包括：（1）创造一个积极的形象，科学和工程作为一个职业选择：学生将离开程序的考验，磨难和奖励，等待着他们更大的意义;（2）提供一个培育环境，并灌输在讨论和实践科学的艺术的信心;（3）提高参与者的口头和书面沟通技巧;（4）教授基础研究工具，包括文献检索和现代仪器的操作;（5）培养合作的团队合作研究方法;（6）增加国内学生的数量，特别是那些来自代表性不足的群体的学生，他们选择追求STEM职业。遵循详细的评估计划，以便对工作进行评价。技术说明与本网站相关的指导研究项目旨在成为材料和相关领域工作的绝佳培训场所。学生们接触到各种变革性的项目在材料科学和工程的最前沿，如：与先进的功能材料（金属有机框架，光学活性无机晶体，二维异质结构，薄膜，纳米复合材料，自旋极化膜的合成研究;纳米/微米级非均相催化剂等）;材料表征（通过电子显微镜、固态和溶液态核磁共振（NMR）光谱、质谱、低温电子、光学、磁传输、UV/维斯、红外（IR）、2D-IR和拉曼光谱等）;理论/计算研究（其中学生学习如何通过密度泛函理论（DFT）计算，分子动力学（MD）模拟，数据驱动机器学习（ML）等来研究材料）;该奖项反映了NSF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。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION The REU Site at Southern Illinois University Carbondale provides research opportunities for an average of 14 undergraduates per year (including 2 supported internally) for a 9 week period each summer. Students are involved in interdisciplinary projects in the broadly defined area of materials research. Inclusion of faculty mentors from various disciplines (Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Biology, and the Materials Technology Center) enables the REU students to develop skills needed to excel in both academic and industrial research environments, where interdisciplinary teams are standard and researchers must communicate effectively across disciplines. Students are also required to think about the application of their research to new technologies and the manufacturing of new devices, and have opportunities to present their results to a diverse audience. The Site recruits primarily from 2-/4-year institutions residing in neighboring states or the Mississippi Delta region, as well as those with traditionally high enrollment of students from underrepresented groups. Students participating in this Site learn to network with other scientists and engineers through various social activities including weekly lunches with faculty mentors and weekend trips to cultural, industrial, and recreational locations. Primary goals of the site include: (1) creating a positive image of science and engineering as a career choice: students will leave the program with a greater sense of the trials, tribulations, and rewards that await them; (2) providing a nurturing environment and instilling a sense of confidence in the art of discussing and practicing science; (3) improving the participants’ oral and written communication skills; (4) teaching of basic research tools, including literature searches and the operation of modern instrumentation; (5) fostering a collaborative teamwork approach to research; and (6) increasing the number of domestic students, especially those from underrepresented groups, who choose to pursue STEM careers. A detailed assessment plan is followed to enable evaluation of efforts. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTIONThe mentored research projects associated with this Site are designed to be excellent training grounds for working in materials and related fields. Students are exposed to a variety of transformative projects at the forefront of materials science and engineering, such as: studies related to the synthesis of advanced functional materials (metal organic frameworks, optically active inorganic crystals, 2D heterostructures, thin films, nanocomposites, spin-polarized films; nanoscale/microscale heterogeneous catalysts, etc.); materials characterization (via electron microscopies, solid- and solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, low-temperature electronic, optical, magnetic transport, UV/Vis, infrared (IR), 2D-IR, and Raman spectroscopies, etc.); theoretical/computational studies (wherein students learn how to study materials via density functional theory (DFT) calculations, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, Data driven Machine Learning (ML) etc.); and materials applications varying from energy storage and photovoltaics, to biosensors and spintronics devices.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.