University of Oregon Receives Major National Science Foundation Grant; The $3.2 Million Grant Expands Workforce Training in Materials Science and Nanoscience.
EUGENE, Ore. -- The University of Oregon has received a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will further unite Oregon universities with international technology companies.
The expanded collaboration will fund graduate studies in materials sciences, helping to accelerate the transition from student to scientist.
Funded by NSF's Integrative Graduate Education Research and Traineeship Program (IGERT), the new award builds on the University of Oregon Materials Science Institute's model internship program. This program is responsible for making the university a top-ten institution nationwide for the number of master's degrees awarded in chemistry.
Currently, the university program places doctoral- and master's-level students in industrial and academic settings for one-year internships where faculty work with site mentors to tailor students' internships for maximum impact. This grant will increase the number of participating-doctoral students and will extend the internship program to doctoral candidates at Oregon State University (OSU) and Portland State University (PSU).
Managed by the University of Oregon, the expanded program includes IGERT sponsorship of students at OSU and PSU and allows placements at any of the participating universities as well as with additional industry partners. The program's other partners include: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), the Engineering & Technology Industry Council (ETIC), Hewlett Packard Co., Invitrogen, LSI Logic Corp., Intel Corp., Hynix Semiconductor America, Triquint Semiconductor, the FEI Company, Dynea and Bend Research Inc.
The new program makes the Oregon universities even stronger by further uniting academia and industry, said David Johnson, chemistry professor at the University of Oregon, and the grant's co-principal investigator. Johnson collaborated on the proposal with a strong team of chemistry and physics faculty members in the Materials Science Institute, including Dave Tyler, Bruce Branchaud, Jim Hutchison, Mike Haley, Darren Johnson and Richard Taylor.
"The program resulting from this collaboration enhances graduate education by providing students with experiences that accelerate the transition from classroom learner to active, innovative and independent-thinking scientist," Johnson said. "As just one aspect of our high-tech extension service, the University of Oregon has placed students for more than five years in industrial research settings where they have been recognized as skilled problem solvers and high level performers. The IGERT award allows us to expand this program to involve other universities and industry partners."
