Proposal No.: 0730243 PI Name: RYU, Chang PI's Institution: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Proposal Title: PIRE: POLYMER Education and Research Partnership between US and Korea
This Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) project is a collaborative effort between scientists and engineers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, University of Texas at Austin, North Carolina State University, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Sogang University, and Yonsei University. A specialist from the State University of New York at Albany oversees the Korean language and cultural training. This team is working together to develop a global research and education endeavor in polymer synthesis, characterization, and theory of heteropolymers with adjustable monomer sequences (HAMS).
The project encompass two broad classes of research on HAMS: (i) the development of polymer synthesis chemistry and fractionation techniques to tailor monomer sequence distribution for the realization of functional HAMS containing hydrophilic and hydrophobic repeat units. These efforts are complemented by the development of theoretical models and computer simulations to probe the details of chemistry on different timescales; (ii) structural, chemical and physical characterization to understand the role of HAMS copolymer architecture in strengthening polymer-polymer interfaces, controlling surface adhesion and recognition, acting as compatibilizing agents in the fabrication of polymer nanocomposites and enhancing the functionality of pH-sensitive HAMS for controlled cargo release and hydrogel applications. Success of these scientific objectives will shed light on the fundamentals of architecturally complex molecules at interfaces and provide knowledge to design and control interfaces in the aforementioned applications.
Korean institutions have been targeted as PIRE partners to provide U.S. students with timely global research opportunities; capitalizing upon Korea's scientific and industrial polymer research infrastructure. The research expertise of the U.S. and Korean collaborators is synergistically combined: (1) to offer an undergraduate summer cultural, research and education program (open to students across the U.S.) to participate in an integrated sequence of training in Korean language and culture, followed by a scientific research project in Korea; (2) to enhance graduate education by encouraging the participating undergraduates to apply and pursue graduate research within the broad and comprehensive spectrum of globally-engaging research projects at the U.S. PIRE universities; (3) to promote the U.S.-Korea cultural and research exchange by developing a graduate student exchange program involving visits and extended stays of the U.S./Korean graduate students for a year in the collaborating Korean/U.S. investigator's laboratory; (4) to increase the graduate and undergraduate research activities of female and underrepresented groups by promoting their participation in the exchange programs; (5) to reinforce the existing K-12 educational outreach activities of all the PIs via the integration of those activities into the Virtual Polymer Laboratory maintained at RPI, and (6) to spur new outreach activities building upon the partnerships established by the participating faculty.
The project is funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) through the PIRE program and the Polymer Program of the Division of Materials Research (DMR) in the Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).
US-Korea partnership through NSF PIRE Polymer Program has endeavored and promoted collaborative research and education activities on heteropolymers with adjustable monomer sequence distribution (HAMS). Our PIRE team discovered the tremendous values and emerging opportunities of international partnership to effectively combine research expertise and infrastructure in US and Korea. Many breakthroughs in our polymer research program are achieved, which involves the synthesis, separation, characterization and theory of the HAMS at interfaces and surfaces. The engagement of US students through the international research projects in Korea also promoted the excellent development of a globally engaged workforce leading at the frontiers of polymer research. Our research projects have exploited from the new chemistry of synthesizing novel polymers to applying the novel synthetic knowledge to the ability in making new molecular architectures of copolymers with an aim to combine the properties and functionalities of different polymers in self-assembly and surface/interfacial properties. During the PIRE project period of 2007 – 2013, 49 peer-reviewed research papers have been published and received a total of 266 citations. Figure 1 shows the citation report graphs on the PIRE publications, indicating that our works have gained interests in the field of polymer research to consistently receive about 90 citations per year from 2012. During the PIRE period, 10 Ph.D. and 3 M.S. degrees have been awarded based on the research results from the PIRE or its spin-off projects. 73% of undergraduate students in the program attended graduate schools for advanced professional development after graduation from college. 19 undergraduate and graduate students visited Korea under the support of PIRE for the summer cultural experience and the international research projects with the Korean PIRE participants in Korea. The feedbacks from the students who visited Korea includes "I feel that this experience gave me a chance to really understand the people more than I ever thought possible." "Currently, I am still reaping the benefits of my international experience as I am now a postdoctoral researcher in Paris, France. Using the skills I acquired in Korea, I have found that adjusting to life in a foreign country easier than I expected. " "I forged with the native Korean students I also had the pleasure to meet other study abroad students from Ghana, Germany, France, England, Spain, and Italy. And, I am still in contact with many of those individuals today. Overall, the US-Korea PIRE program was an irreplaceable experience that had great influence in my growth as a scientist and as a person." Finally, the PIRE program had succeeded in enhancing the career developments and international visibility of the US faculty members. Many of them are in the early stages of their academic careers consisting of 3 Assistant Professors, 1 Associate Professor and 1 Full Professor, when the project was launched in 2007. Upon the completion of the PIRE project in 2013, all the 5 US PIRE faculty members are Full Professors and three of us hold named Professorship in his/her university. During the PIRE period, for the recognitions in the professional society, two of the US PIRE faculty had been honored by American Physical Society (APS) for receiving the Dillon Medals Awards (2010 and 2012) and joining the rank of the APS Fellow. An increased public awareness on our research activities was also promoted by a PIRE faculty, whose work on surface adhesion has been selected as one of "5 Science Breakthroughs of 2012" from CNN Money and one of "14 Inventions Inspired by Nature: Biomimicry in 2013" by Bloomberg News.
