$3 Million NSF Grant Establishes 2D Materials Research Traineeship

From left: Ronna Turner, Morgan Ware, Bothina Manasreh, Matthew Leftwich, Julia Kohanek, Hugh Churchill, Jin Hu and Greg Salamo.

With a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the University of Arkansas will establish an NSF Research Traineeship site on the Fayetteville campus to explore the novel properties and applications of atomically thin “2D” materials, their growth and device fabrication to utilize them. This award will provide funding for more than 10 fellowships each year for graduate students performing research on two-dimensional quantum materials and devices over the next five years.

Electrical engineering and computer science assistant professor Morgan Ware is principal investigator on the award. Working alongside him is Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program director Matt Leftwich, a co-principal investigator on the project. Together they will lead the project.

“We aim to revolutionize STEM graduate education by integrating 2D materials research across multiple disciplines,” Ware said. “We will mentor the fellows in their academic and research pursuits and equip them with the skills and knowledge required to be successful as the next generation workforce in the emerging and high-demand field of 2D materials.”

Ware and Leftwich lead a team of cross-disciplinary scholars. Co-principal investigators on the project include professor of educational statistics and research methods Ronna Turner and associate professors of physics Hugh Churchill and Jin Hu. Other team members include associate professor of physics Bothina Manasreh, Distinguished Professor of physics Greg Salamo and associate director of the Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program Julia Kohanek.

The team will create three new courses that will form a permanent concentration of study on 2D quantum materials and devices within the Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program at the U of A.

“The students will gain both technical knowledge and personal and professional ‘soft skills’ through a comprehensive approach to graduate education for future scientists and engineers,” Leftwich said. “The students will also be able to develop entrepreneurial talents that will help them translate their research into practical applications.”

The traineeship is based on three principles that aim to develop professional and technical skills:

1. Combining practical experience and soft-skills development through mandatory seminar courses.
2. Forming and working in cohorts and small groups inspired by industry standards and guided by senior doctoral students.
3. Focusing on learning how to turn technology into business opportunities.

These principles are supported by a range of core and elective courses in the Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program offered by over 50 faculty from 11 different departments, schools and colleges.

This award is facilitated through the direct partnership between the U of A’s interdisciplinary Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Program and the MonArk NSF Quantum Foundry, a collaborative initiative funded by NSF to create a foundry-like environment for the development of 2D materials and devices. This partnership will leverage the expertise and resources of both organizations to advance the frontiers of materials engineering including physics, electrical engineering, chemistry, mechanical engineering and computer science.