GER-9553609 Houde-Walter The University of Rochester has a long record of producing outstanding PhDs in Optical Science and Engineering. Students know this, so there is an ample supply of highly qualified U.S. citizens that apply for graduate study at Rochester each year. Student support is in short supply, however, and this severely limits the number of doctorates in Optics produced by Rochester. Should additional support become available through the NSF GRT program, we can guarantee the admission of additional U.S. citizens without in any way compromising the academic excellence of the doctoral program. Three academic departments, The Institute of Optics, The Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the Department of Mechanical Engineering, have joined forces to attract the GRT program to Rochester. Together we propose several enhancements to our already strong programs. These include Optics training in technical communication, training opportunities for GRT students as future mentors, and international research opportunities for GRT students. We have also developed several new approaches to recruiting underrepresented minorities and women. These enhancements will benefit the GRT students and will improve the quality of doctoral education in Optics overall.
