Participant Support Cost for RET Site: Collaborative Research: Research Experiences for Teachers across the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure

The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) is proposing a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program focusing on Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE). The NNCI RET activity will build upon the successful RET program managed by the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network (NNIN), the predecessor of the NNCI. Four universities from across the NNCI network, Georgia Institute of Technology (GA Tech, lead institution), University of Minnesota (UMN), University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL), and Northwestern University (NWU), will support 20 participants a year in a 6-week summer research experience, with follow-up support during subsequent school-year semesters. A networked approach for this RET program will expose participants to a wider array of NSE research and industries than any one site could provide. It also expands the pool of teachers and community college faculty so they can more easily seek out colleagues with similar NSE research interests or curriculum topics. The four NNCI sites collaborating on this proposal will 1) grow a multi-site cohort of educators from across the country with research experiences that reflect broad educational, industrial, and societal NSE activities and link them with the Teaching Nano and Emerging Technologies Network, part of National Nanotechnology Initiative, 2) build upon the library of NSE educational materials developed by the NNIN and broadly disseminate these activities, 3) highlight the work of NNCI cohort by attending the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) conference and providing a webinar on their curriculum to the Teaching Nano and Emerging Technologies Network, thereby fostering an expansive network of educators’ integrating NSE curriculum in their classes, and 4) encourage RET participants (RETs) to present their research in journals and professional society meetings. SHyNE proposes to host 5 RETs each of the three years of the project. SHyNE core facility managers will work with graduate students to craft projects that the RETs will incorporate into their regular curriculum. The graduate students will work with the RETs over the summer and follow-up throughout the school year to assist with the curriculum development and incorporation. The teachers will attend the NSTA as a cohort and share their experiences to a broader teacher community. The program will be administered by NUANCE administrative staff, as the lead facility of the SHyNE Resource.