IRES Track 1: U.S.-Australia Innovations of Solar Materials and Solar Cells

这个IRES Site （Track 1）提案将从阿拉巴马大学（UA）每年招收6名美国本科生，为期三年（总共18名学生），在澳大利亚悉尼的新南威尔士大学（UNSW）参加为期10周的暑期研究体验，重点研究前沿创新太阳能材料和太阳能电池技术。为了通过清洁太阳能解决气候变化问题，新兴的太阳能材料和太阳能电池技术对于促进太阳能的收获和转化为电能至关重要。此外，通过计算建模和实验实现，新的太阳能材料的设计和发现可以加速将太阳能转化为化学能的新技术，用于制氢和减少二氧化碳。基于这些新开发的吸光太阳能材料的太阳能电池的研究需求很高，并且是实现碳中和的必要条件。迄今为止，除了一般材料科学和半导体物理学之外，学生学习先进太阳能材料和相关太阳能电池技术的机会有限。在新南威尔士大学教师的指导下，这个IRES网站支持对太阳能材料和太阳能电池有研究兴趣的美国学生，从事材料设计、合成、表征、太阳能电池制造和测量。这一独特的经历将为美国学生在利用太阳能技术减缓气候变化领域的专业发展提供机会。新南威尔士大学是世界领先的太阳能电池研究机构，其光伏和可再生能源工程学院在各种太阳能电池技术的研究和商业化方面享有世界认可。其高质量的教师导师，研究生和设施使新南威尔士大学成为举办IRES网站的独特场所。该项目将为本科生提供在澳大利亚悉尼新南威尔士大学和阿拉巴马大学学习太阳能材料和太阳能电池的经验。学生们将在新南威尔士大学世界一流的研究实验室和设施中获得太阳能材料合成、太阳能电池制造和测量的经验。在这个为期三年的项目中，每年将有6名学生参与太阳能项目。这些学生将由在新南威尔士大学正在进行的项目中具有专业知识的教师和研究生指导。通过这项国际合作，这些美国学生将接受培训，继续他们在太阳能领域的研究，并促进美国在太阳能领域的研究领导地位。该IRES项目将(1)促进美国和澳大利亚之间的国际合作研究，(2)巩固学生在STEM领域的科学和基础知识，(3)鼓励代表性不足和少数民族的学生从事STEM职业。参与的本科生将获得研究经验，激发他们在STEM领域攻读研究生学位的兴趣。接触多元文化的研究和学习环境将有助于学生为进入太阳能技术劳动力做好准备，并提高美国在清洁能源方面的全球竞争力。新南威尔士大学的IRES网站将成为建立学院级国际合作和教育的桥梁，以加强美国的STEM教育。该项目将通过学生在美国和澳大利亚会议上的研究报告进行评估。该项目由国际科学与工程办公室（OISE）和促进竞争研究的既定计划（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。

This IRES Site (Track 1) proposal will recruit six U.S. undergraduate students per year for three years (18 students total) from The University of Alabama (UA) to attend a 10-week summer research experience focused on cutting-edge innovation solar materials and solar cell technologies at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. To address climate change through clean solar energy, the emerging solar materials, and solar cell technologies are critically important to promote the harvest and conversation of solar energy into electricity. Moreover, new solar materials design, and discovery through computational modeling and experimental realization can accelerate new technologies that convert solar energy to chemical energy for hydrogen generation and carbon dioxide reduction. The need for research into solar cells based on these newly developed light-absorbing solar materials is in high demand and necessary to achieve carbon-neutral realization. To date, there are limited opportunities for students to learn about advanced solar materials and related solar cell technologies beyond general materials science and semiconductor physics. This IRES site supports US students with research interests in solar materials and solar cells under the mentorships of faculty members at UNSW, working on materials design, synthesis, characterization, and solar cell fabrication and measurements. This unique experience will provide opportunities for the US students’ professional development in areas of climate change mitigation through the use of solar energy technologies. UNSW is a world-leading institute in solar cell research, and the school of photovoltaic and renewable energy engineering is world-recognized in various solar cell technologies investigation and commercialization. Its high-quality faculty mentors, graduate students, and facilities make UNSW a unique place to host this IRES Site. This program will provide undergraduate students learning experience focused on solar materials and solar cells at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, and The University of Alabama. The students will gain experience in the world-class research laboratories and facilities at UNSW for solar materials synthesis, solar cells fabrication, and measurement. In this three year project, six students per year will participate in solar energy projects. These students will be mentored by faculty members and graduate students with expertise in ongoing projects at UNSW. Through this international collaboration, these US students will be trained to continue their studies in solar energy and promote US research leadership in solar energy. This IRES project will (1) improve the international collaborative research between the U.S. and Australia, (2) consolidate the student's scientific and fundamental knowledge in the STEM field, (3) encourage underrepresented and minority students to pursue a STEM career. The undergraduate students involved will gain research experience, stimulating their interest to pursue a graduate degree in STEM fields. Exposure to the multicultural research and study environments will help prepare the students to enter the solar energy technologies workforce, and increase U.S. global competencies in clean energy. This IRES site at UNSW will be a bridge to establish institute-level international collaboration and education to enhance STEM education in the U.S. The project will be assessed by students’ presentations of research in US and Australian conferences.This project is jointly funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) 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.