A group of UC Merced faculty members has secured a $1 million seed grant from the National Science Foundation to develop educational materials, research-focused facilities, and collaborative research to expand participation and access to education, training, and careers. was established.
Innovations in Self-Assembly and Integration of Optoelectronic Nanostructures (VISION) at the University of California, Merced is a collaboration with the NSF Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand Integrated Science and Technology Center (IMOD), headquartered at the University of Washington and spanning a worldwide network. Masu. Institutions across the country.
The VISION partnership brings together a multidisciplinary team at the University of California, Merced and IMOD. Core members of the UC Merced VISION team are Professors Michael Scheibner, Sayantani Ghosh, and Hui Cai from the Department of Physics, Professor Tao Ye from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Professor Mehmet Baykara from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and several other professors. . others. The IMOD team includes researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Colorado Boulder, the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, the University of Pennsylvania, and Lehigh University.
Together, they develop programs that foster students’ potential in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These offer enriching research opportunities, interdisciplinary scientific collaboration, pedagogical development, and comprehensive instruction.
Three-year seed grant will help K-12 educators and graduate students integrate modern materials science into diverse classrooms and develop early enthusiasm and confidence to explore STEM topics and other endeavors funding the teacher training component.
Principal Investigator Scheibner is leading this effort, and the seed grant will fund the creation of an on-campus Materials Research and Education Partnership Center focused on increasing diversity in the materials science and engineering community. stated that it provides.
“We create pathways for students by providing experiential learning opportunities that allow them to learn about the latest material. You can try it,” Scheibner said. “We aim to be a stepping stone into the exciting world of materials for our students from an early age.”
In addition to supporting young students, VISION provides hands-on research opportunities and mentorship for undergraduate and graduate students, trains faculty in culturally responsive instruction, and expands research in materials science and engineering. Masu.
“Starting in the spring, we will be offering fellowships to undergraduate students, which will allow them to participate in research projects that we and IMOD are working on, such as DNA-guided nanoassemblies of colloidal quantum dots for quantum photogeneration and light.” ‘Because we want it to be,’ it’s manipulation,” Scheibner said. “We plan to select up to eight researchers each semester.”
This fellow will be part of an interdisciplinary project involving several faculty members from both the School of Engineering and the School of Natural Sciences.
VISION and IMOD are also planning an exchange program for faculty and graduate students to develop research collaborations and learn from each other. IMOD is made up of multiple universities, and your exchange may include any of them.
This seed grant award will enable the VISION partnership to compete for a multi-million dollar PREM award over six years.
If fully funded by PREM, we plan to significantly increase the number of undergraduate and graduate students we work with and offer immersive programs for young students.
This year, NSF donated more than $50 million to 15 educational institutions serving minorities, and 11 schools received awards of more than $4 million each.
“Supporting the scientific talent that exists in every community in our country is essential to strengthening the nation’s materials research infrastructure, which is at the heart of everything from semiconductors to medical implants,” said NSF Director Sethuraman. Panchanathan said.
Visit this site to listen to podcasts about the program or find out more on YouTube.
