February 20, 2008
by Stephanie Laird

Physicists from Ohio University’s Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute researching electron spin at the nanoscale recently received $3.3 million from the National Science Foundation to launch an array of nanoscience education and research programs for students from a variety of scholastic backgrounds.

GRANT IMPACT and BACKGROUND:

NSF, through its Partnership for International Research and Education (NSF-PIRE) program, granted researchers $2.5 million for a five-year period to develop educational programs that expose students to nanospintronic and nanomagnetism research initiatives in the global scientific community. Development of university approved certificate programs for undergraduate and graduate students will be part of the new SPIRE grant program. In addition, the grant will establish the PIRE ‘Spin Triangle,’ an international research collaboration specializing in both the experimental and theoretical realms of nanoscience exploration, which includes three participating research institutions located in Germany, Argentina and the US.

“This grant will create a new international collaboration which will be unlike anything currently available in the United States,” said SPIRE grant project director Arthur R. Smith, founding member and current director of OU’s Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute. “Students will gain international research experience as they work on degrees, thus enabling a more global perspective on research.” Forging an international research partnership will also enable the physicists to proceed more effectively in their research and to stay abreast of global developments in this highly interdisciplinary field, Smith added.

The U.S. team, led by SPIRE director Smith along with co-directors Saw-Wai Hla, Nancy Sandler and Sergio Ulloa, will partner with the Institute of Applied Physics at the University of Hamburg, Germany and the condensed matter theory research group at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, and at Centro Atomico Constituyentes, Buenos Aires, Argentina to form a focused, integrated and complementary collaboration.

“The international collaboration will expose our students to international nanoscience research environments,” said Smith. “We selected these two foreign partners because of their expertise in the areas we’re working in – nanomagnetism and nanospintronics.”

The three leading nanoscale research institutions will also be welcoming students from five different scholastic levels – journalism and Honors Tutorial undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and senior researchers – to participate in multinational nanoscience research programs and experimental projects that coincide with team research initiatives.

The focus on international nanoscale research and forging a coherent collaboration with cutting-edge institutions in the global arena will open up many educational and research opportunities for OU students and promote scientific advancements in spintronic research from a diverse group of participants, said Smith.

“SPIRE opens up new collaborative channels and increases OU’s visibility as a research oriented institution,” said Smith, who hopes the scientific partnership will attract students who are interested in international research and also increase OU’s visibility as an institution devoted to international research initiatives. Smith hopes this effort may serve as a model for other universities seeking to establish similar research partnerships.

Study abroad programs to Hamburg and Buenos Aires through the SPIRE project will be incorporated in OU's Office of Education Abroad offerings. This cooperative effort will ensure the sustainability of the SPIRE study abroad programs, which will welcome OU students from an array of disciplines at various points along their educational path to study nanoscale science in an international setting and gain practical experience engaging in nanoscale research projects and courses.
 

SPIRE STUDENT IMPACT and INVOLVEMENT:

Over the five-year PIRE grant period, an estimated 30 students –10 graduate and 20 undergraduates – will engage in international nanoscience research. Visiting, studying and doing research at foreign institutions will foster student experience in cultivating international research expertise and connections with the nanoscale community, said Smith.

Participating undergraduate students from the Honors Tutorial College or from the College of Arts and Sciences will be studying abroad for a ten-week period following their junior or senior year; gaining exposure to international research, and immersing themselves in the language and culture of the country they visit while participating in collaborative research projects at the partner institution.

Undergraduate journalists from E. W. Scripps School of Journalism will be continuing the nanoscience journalism program launched through the recent National Science Foundation – Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NSF-NIRT) grant at OU. These students will gain international science exposure, spending up to two weeks abroad: “working on journalistic reporting of science, documenting research projects in the collaboration, and exploring the differences or similarities of the research expertise in different countries,” stated the PIRE grant proposal. The study abroad trip is the culminating experience for undergraduate journalists following a 9-month nanoscience internship, which gives participants practical experience writing and reporting on developments in the nanoscience community both for scientific and lay audiences.

Graduate researchers will engage in collaborative research while abroad and will take specific coursework; each student will travel to partner institutions on up to two separate trips for a combined time of 20 weeks, according to the PIRE grant proposal. In addition, post-doctoral scientists will be traveling abroad for five-week periods to perform intensive experiments or calculations at the participating institutions at pivotal points in research projects.
 

CERTIFICATE PROGRAM:

The SPIRE project also includes the development of an official, university-approved certificate program in international nanoscience research for undergraduate and graduate students interested in studying nanoscience. These cross-disciplinary certificates, similar to a minor, will include courses in foreign language, history, and culture, as well as science. The courses included in each certificate program will draw from classes that are already offered at OU. According to Smith, the certificate programs are currently under development, and should be available as early as the beginning of the 2008-09 academic year.
 

RESEARCH:

In addition to developing interdisciplinary educational opportunities for OU students to study nanoscience in the international scientific arena, the researchers involved with the PIRE grant will carry out research projects initiated or inspired by work under the previous NSF-NIRT grant. Several new investigations into experimental and theoretical aspects of the nanoscience field will also be initiated through the PIRE grant to further fundamental understanding of electron spin and the fabrication, manipulation and potential to control spin in materials.

The PIRE grant offers students a unique opportunity to engage in nanoscale research on an international level, and delve into this rapidly evolving scientific frontier with the advantage of research and experimental facilities from foreign collaborations such as those participating in the SPIRE project.

Physicists engaged in the SPIRE project are trying to understand how electrons communicate through spin, and how to manipulate, control and fabricate this interaction. While the PIRE grant includes many scientific objectives and experimental and theoretical initiatives, it also offers numerous opportunities for students to engage in nanoscience educational programs that include opportunities to study abroad.

With the development of university approved certificate programs for undergraduate and graduate students, more OU students will have the opportunity to gain international exposure to collaborative nanoscience research in this fascinating field that has an immense potential to revolutionize and reinvent technology.