Education and Human Resources

The NSEC actively promotes interdisciplinary education and research in nanoscale science and engineering. Our goals are to increase public awareness of advances in nanoscale science and engineering, and to promote career advancement for a diverse group of young scientists. Initiatives at the pre-college, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels include strategic collaborations to encourage individuals from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in science and engineering. Our activities include: Holiday Science Lecture; Project TEACH for Cambridge middle school students; RET Program for public school teachers; Nano- and Mesoscale Science Seminar Series for Cambridge science teachers; REU Program with supplemental Harvard funding; Applied Physics 298r Interdisciplinary Chemistry, Engineering, and Physics-an interdisciplinary survey of research in the Center; and the NSEC Postdoctoral Fellowships for Members of Underrepresented Groups.

Museum of Science, Boston The Museum does an outstanding job of bringing advances in nanoscience and technology to the public in an entertaining and informative way. Their NSEC program led by Carol Lynn Alpert, includes public talks by Center faculty on the Center for Science & Technology stage located in the lobby, as well as entertaining presentations by Daniel Davis, also cablecasted over New England Cable News. A National Informal Science Education Network of museums has been proposed by the Museum; this promises to be a very effective way to inform the public.

Figure 2. NSEC Postdoctoral fellow Mark Bray works with REU student Ben Diop-Frimpong in the laboratory, co-advised by Parker and Westervelt. Ben will begin graduate school at Harvard in summer 2005, working with Parker.

Diversity The Center has a strategic plan to increase diversity with five goals: (1) Intensify the recruiting, support, and professional development of a more diverse group of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers; (2) Increase the diversity of faculty participating in the NSEC, in part through a partnership with the Radcliffe Institute; (3) Strengthen recruiting and mentoring of members of underrepresented groups by extending the approaches used for our REU program; (4) Introduce pre-college students to science & engineering through RET and GK12 programs with public schools, and collaboration with Cambridge public schools; and (5) Develop long-term research and educational partnerships with predominantly female and minority-serving institutions.