US-Poland Workshop: Interfacial Phenomena at the Nanoscale: Fluids and Soft Matter, Poznan, Poland, June 19-23, 2012

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

#1133244 Szleifer This is an International Travel grant that provides support for U.S. participants to attend a four day Conference on "Interfacial Phenomena at the Nanoscale: Fluids and Soft Matter," to be held in Poznan, Poland on June 19-23, 2012, at the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences. The proposed Conference is a follow-up to and builds upon three earlier and successful Polish/USA Conferences held in Poznan (2006), Gdansk (2008) and Krakow (2010). The purpose of the Conference is to encourage closer scientific contacts and long-term research collaboration between researchers in this area between the U.S. and Poland. The Workshop will involve 17 U.S. participants and 15-20 from Poland, with a balance between junior, mid-career and senior researchers, and between experiment and theory, with similar or complementary interests on the two sides. In addition, young researchers in these areas from Poland will attend the meeting, present poster papers, and interact with the more senior participants throughout the meeting. The conference travel award also provides funds to support follow-up visits to the US by Polish Researchers to promote research collaborations initiated through contacts made at the Conference. Intellectual Merit: The topic of the Conference will represent cutting edge research in the areas of soft and hard materials, bio-materials, polymers, polymerization, self assembly, complex fluids, microemulsions, surface science, interfacial phenomena, catalysis, colloids, adsorption, adhesion, rheology, computational nanoscience, and thin films. The participants are leading researchers in these areas, and the objective is to provide a survey of current research in these areas and to explore fruitful future possibilities for research collaboration. Broader impact. The Conference is expected to strengthen existing and initiate new individual and institutional collaboration among the participants. For example, we know that some US participants have ongoing collaboration (Professors Grzybowski, Gubbins, Matyjaszewski, and Radosz). These and other participants plan to visit other academic centers in Poland (for example, Krakow, Gdansk, Warszawa) to discuss future projects. Such projects will enrich the research and education infrastructure of both countries. The project budget includes funds for travel by young Polish researchers to the U.S. during the year following the conference to facilitate collaborations initiated at the conference. These funds will be available to graduate students and postdocs.