NSF Award Abstract - #9870665

AWSFL008-DS3

IGERT: Graduate Training in Optical Science and Engineering

Abstract

This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award will support the establishment of a multidisciplinary graduate training program in optical sciences and engineering that will prepare PhD students for a variety of careers in academic and industrial environments. This activity is a joint effort of twenty-six scientists and engineers from the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado, and two affiliated institutes, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA). This group of scientists and engineers has established research collaborations and their collective expertise will provide the intellectual underpinning for the training of a diverse cadre of some ninety graduate students over the five-year tenure of the award. Optical science and engineering is particularly well-suited integrative research theme because its diverse components are extremely important in both basic research and industrial applications. The program's research components are clustered in three areas: optical control and manipulation of fundamental systems, optical metrology, and optical processing of information. Within these clusters, PhD training will address the unmet need for advanced degree graduates who possess the `Employable Quintet` of technical knowledge in depth, problem solving ability in a laboratory setting, flexibility in learning and working, the ability to work in teams, and clarity in oral and written communication. Ten percent of the IGERT traineeship positions will support students in an experimental Professional Masters Degree program that will include all aspects of the doctoral program except the dissertation project. IGERT is a new, NSF-wide program intended to facilitate the establishment of innovative, research-based graduate programs that will train a diverse group of scientists and engineers to be well-prepared to take advantage of a broad spectrum of career options. IGERT provides doctoral institutions with an opportunity to develop new, well-focussed multidisciplinary graduate programs that transcend organizational boundaries and unite faculty from several departments or institutions to establish a highly interactive, collaborative environment for both training and research. In this first year of the program, support will be provided to seventeen institutions for new or nascent programs that collectively span all areas of science and engineering supported by NSF.