REU Site: Nanoscale Materials Science and Engineering at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University, Nashville TN

Investigators

Abstract

The Vanderbilt Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (VINSE) summer REU program will offer science and engineering undergraduate students the opportunity to work closely with faculty on research projects in the field of nanoscale science and engineering. VINSE faculty will provide REU students with an interdisciplinary research experience in an environment where physicists, chemists, biologists, and engineers collaboratively solve problems and create new scientific understanding. The overarching theme of the research is nano-materials innovation and fabrication for a wide range of applications from materials for drug delivery to efficient solar energy conversion. In nano-materials, the key structural features are about 1 thousandth of the width of a human hair. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are based on the ability to synthesize, organize, characterize, and manipulate matter systematically at the nanoscale, creating uniquely functional materials which can be inorganic, organic or biological, or a hybrid of any two or more of these. Consequently, nanoscience and nanotechnology pose formidable challenges that cut across traditionally distinct disciplines. Clearly, to meet these demands, the training of future scientists and engineers in the broad field of nanotechnology is of paramount importance. The interdisciplinary nature of nanoscale science and engineering means it inherently involves all of the sciences and engineering, resulting in the need to train students at all levels in an interdisciplinary manner. This should include an appreciation for the way a solid grounding in the undergraduate major program prepares for interdisciplinary research, and gaining a real-world perspective of the need for their research to progress "beyond the bench". This REU will provide precisely this opportunity by combining Vanderbilt's unique interdisciplinary research opportunities at the nanoscale, with participation in research in a discipline-based experimental laboratory or computational setting. Consequently, students trained through this interdisciplinary summer program will leave with an appreciation of the skills needed to successfully contribute to the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The REU students will also be offered the opportunity for training in the integration of research with education and outreach through participation in the Vanderbilt Summer Academy for gifted high school students who have expressed an interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology. This REU site is co-funded by the NSF Divisions of Materials Science (DMR) and Engineering Education and Centers (ENG/EEC).