IRES: Nanomaterials undergraduate Research in Germany (NanoRING)

Nanomaterials undergraduate Research in Germany (NanoRING) will provide 10-week nanoresearch opportunities at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany for five US undergraduates from the combined student pool of Northwestern University (NU) and the University of Texas in San Antonio (UTSA), a minority serving institution and NSF-PREM partner of NU. The specific research focus is on nanomaterials covering the subtopics of nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, and nanobio-materials. This thematic base leverages Northwestern’s NSF-Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and the NU/UTSA Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) with TUM’s International Graduate School of Science and Engineering (IGSSE). The research opportunity will be for undergraduates only, in order to motivate and inspire young US researchers to invest in a future research career. Particularly at UTSA, specific efforts will be made to reach out to underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines so that the cohort’s constituency will meet or exceed NSF’s goals for representation. Prof. Ernst Rank, Director of the IGSSE at the TUM in Munich has provided a collaborative letter promising to identify research mentors and lodging for NanoRING students. Individual German collaborators from within IGSSE who have also provided letters of collaboration to host visiting student researchers include: (TBD). The PI previously conducted post-doctoral research for 6 years in the Tech. Univ. Munich, as well as serving as academic coordinator for the international TUM summer program “Finding Nano”, which he founded in 2008. Thus the PI has a strong network of collaborators in Germany, as well as familiarity with the administration at the partner German universities, and personal familiarity with the city and surroundings. The PI’s research reputation in Germany is evidenced by his 2012 Humboldt Alumni Network award.