This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) renewal award supports the further development of the UCLA Materials Creation Training Program (MCTP). The MCTP enables trainees to master a specific discipline, while being immersed in the collaborative scientific cultures characteristic of careers of the future, as emphasized in the National Nanotechnology Initiative. Supported by the MCTP in their second and third years, students are trained in all aspects of the design, synthesis, and characterization of novel molecules and assemblies, and in the fabrication, characterization and marketing of devices based on these materials, including biosensors and biomaterials. The MCTP engages graduate students and faculty from Chemistry & Biochemistry, Physics, and the Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical and Aerospace, and Materials Science Engineering departments at UCLA. The trainees experience training in cross-disciplinary laboratories, classes and seminars in addition to their disciplinary graduate training and research. Key components of the program include: a co-advisor from a complementary discipline; an external internship at a company, government lab or abroad; participation in annual symposia, and training in the responsible conduct of research. To institutionalize the program, the MCTP courses will serve as the nucleus of new academic minors and a new interdepartmental PhD program in NanoScience and NanoTechnology. The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) will phase in support for MCTP fellowships and administration of these academic programs. New programs to enhance diversity and international research experiences of the trainees include a collaborative program with the UCLA Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate, and a new MCTP Master Fellows Bridge Program in partnership with Cal State Los Angeles (CSULA) to enhance the training of Master's degree students at CSULA and increase the number of underrepresented students enrolling in STEM doctoral programs. The MCTP will continue its K-12 education and outreach partnership with the CNSI and Center X in the UCLA Graduate School of Education, through which the MCTP trainees work with teachers and high school students at underserved schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, providing hands-on experience with modern techniques, devices and materials. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.
IGERT has had a transformational impact on doctoral education in the physical sciences and engineering at UCLA. Emphasizing interdisciplinary graduate research training, the MCTP engaged 47 students and 23 faculty from seven departments. The MCTP enabled trainees to master a specific discipline, while being immersed in the collaborative scientific cultures that are now the norm in both industry and universities. Our research teams worked on many of the world’s pressing problems that could potentially be solved by the creation of new materials, producing world-class research that could not be accomplished in individual laboratories. Through the MCTP, doctoral students were trained in all aspects of the design, synthesis, fabrication, and marketing of new materials and devices. Their work led to 231 publications, one issued patent, and numerous patent applications. Eleven of the supported trainees have already received their PhDs. Collectively, this work spans the physical sciences and engineering disciplines, encompassing topics from energy to biomaterials to nanoscience. Some of the most significant research activities were: the development of thermoelectric nanomaterials; the creation of novel materials for optoelectronic and sensing applications; the synthesis of new, incompressible, superhard materials; improved organic photovoltaic devices for solar energy harvesting; new magnetically-separable catalysts that can improve the efficiency and reduce waste in chemical processes; microfluidic platforms for medical diagnostics and basic research in cellular biology; microbatteries for consumer technologies; and supercapacitors for next-generation power supplies. Numerous multi-institutional and international collaborations were formed through the MCTP project, resulting not only in publications and inventions, but enduring partnerships that continue to push forward the frontiers in materials science, engineering and nanotechnology. Broader Impacts: The MCTP enabled establishment of foundational, interdepartmental training in materials characterization and device design at UCLA. The team-based laboratory course developed through this program benefits both undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in graduate degree programs across the physical sciences and engineering. The course is core to a new materials chemistry undergraduate major and graduate specialization in the Department of Chemistry. The required internship experience increased doctoral student success, as evidenced by the reduced time to degree of trainees, and their rapid development of communication, teamwork and project management skills. Trainees were also able to build on the internship experience to shape their career trajectories. Because the lab course and internship experience have been so successful, many departments and training programs are now looking to the MCTP as a model to adopt and adapt for their own students. The MCTP/California NanoSystems high school nanoscience outreach program has been another major success of this IGERT program. Our trainees developed experiments and kits to deploy in high schools in the Los Angeles area, and trained the teachers who would work with the students. The safe, low-cost nanoscience and nanotechnology experiments give students hands-on experience with modern techniques, devices and materials, and inspired many to pursue careers in STEM fields. This program has impacted dozens of schools and thousands of students in southern California. The instructional materials are readily available on an open website: http://cnsi.ctrl.ucla.edu/nanoscience/pages/homepage .
