| NSF Org: |
DMR Division Of Materials Research |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | February 23, 2018 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | February 23, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1819609 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Lynnette Madsen
lmadsen@nsf.gov (703)292-4936 DMR Division Of Materials Research MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | March 15, 2018 |
| End Date: | February 28, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $10,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $10,000.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1523 UNION RD RM 207 GAINESVILLE FL US 32611-1941 (352)392-3516 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
FL US 32611-5500 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | XC-Crosscutting Activities Pro |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: A team of six graduate students from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida is organizing a symposium at the 255th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) entitled, ?Finding Our Place at the Bottom: A Symposium in Memory of Richard Feynman.? The late Richard Feynman was a titanic figure in theoretical physics who, in the 1950s, envisioned a future in which materials could be produced and manipulated on a sub-microscopic and even atomic scale. In the year in which Prof. Feynman would have turned 100, this symposium celebrates the pioneering collaborations between chemists, physicists, and engineers that have made such nanomaterials commonplace. The symposium features a series of twelve lectures from preeminent faculty, industry scientists, and government researchers in the field of nanoscience, including topics such as solar energy harvesting, atom-by-atom manipulation, and improving sustainable materials. As this symposium is fully student-organized, the organizers are receiving invaluable training and networking opportunities that will aid them in their future careers. In addition, travel funding for members of underrepresented groups in the sciences is being offered to enable their access to this symposium (scheduled on March 20) and the ACS Meeting as a whole.
TECHNICAL DETAILS: Nanoscience has emerged as one of the dominant fields of research in the 21st century, largely due to advances in theoretical understanding of nanomaterials and improved synthetic techniques by which they are realized. The Graduate Student Symposium at the 255th ACS National Meeting celebrates the multidisciplinary nature of nanoscience with the goal of educating and inspiring attendees. The graduate student organizers operate with minimal faculty involvement, so they are also receiving significant experience in symposium logistics, advertising, and fundraising.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This grant supported a symposium at the 255th American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting titled, “Finding Our Place at the Bottom: A Symposium in Memory of Richard Feynman.” Prof. Feynman was keenly interested in the nanoscale world, and, as he would have turned 100 years old in 2018, this symposium honored his legacy by highlighting recent advances in nanoscience and nanochemistry. Nanoscience has the potential to address many outstanding challenges facing society today, such as designing sustainable materials, generating and storing energy from renewable sources, and realizing targeted disease therapies. In recognition of this great potential and the multidisciplinary nature of nanoscience research, this symposium featured lectures from 11 world-renowned researchers with a broad range of expertise. For example, Bruno Schuler from IBM Research – Zurich spoke about performing chemical reactions by directly manipulating individual atoms in a single molecule, whereas Prof. Teri Odom from Northwestern University discussed altering the interaction of light with matter through nanoparticle design. Speakers were also selected from diverse professional backgrounds (e.g. academic, industrial, and government) to emphasize to attendees that a career in nanoscience research is not just limited to the university setting.
This symposium was part of the Graduate Student Symposium (GSS) series that are biannually held at the ACS National Meeting, and as such, it was entirely planned and organized by graduate students from the University of Florida (UF), termed the Graduate Student Symposium Planning Committee (GSSPC). Their responsibilities included developing the symposium topic, inviting speakers, securing funding, and managing logistics. This afforded the graduate student organizers an unprecedented opportunity to organize a major symposium at an ACS National Meeting, a duty that is typically reserved for mid-career or later faculty. The symposium was very well attended, with numbers consistently ranging from 50-150 people throughout the day.
This grant directly supported the travel of the members of the UF GSSPC to New Orleans, LA, to attend the meeting. It furthermore supported the travel of members of the Louisiana State University GSSPC for Spring 2019 to New Orleans to directly observe the UF symposium and learn from the UF organizers. Finally, NSF funding allowed for eight travel grants to be awarded to undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented minority groups in science to attend the 255th ACS National Meeting. Many of these students had never attended an ACS National Meeting before, so they were afforded a significant opportunity for intellectual and professional development.
Last Modified: 04/09/2019
Modified by: Lisa Mcelwee-White
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