NRT-QISE: Bridging the Gap Between 2D Quantum Materials and Engineering in STEM Education

The convergent field of Two-Dimensional Quantum Materials is rapidly growing in importance as an incubator for materials with new properties and potential applications from quantum computing to renewable energy. However, there is shortage of trained workforce in the nation that is sufficiently qualified to develop and commercialize the resulting technologies.

This National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) award to the University of Arkansas will provide a new, interdisciplinary, and sustainable educational experience in Two-Dimensional Quantum Materials and Devices (2D-QMaD) for STEM students through a holistic approach to graduate education of future scientists and engineers, including development of both technical knowledge and personal/professional “soft skills”. The project will train fifty-seven (57) masters and doctoral students, including twenty-seven (27) funded trainees.

This will be in direct partnership between the University of Arkansas’s interdisciplinary Materials Science and Engineering (MSEN) graduate program and the MonArk Quantum Foundry (an NSF funded partnership between Montana State University and the University of Arkansas to develop a foundry-like environment for the development of 2D materials and devices.) This work inherently bridges the disciplines of MSEN, Physics, Electrical Engineering, as well as Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, and Computer Engineering.

The unique guiding principles of this traineeship program can primarily be broken down into several key components. These are: A) inclusion of professional practice and soft-skills training via the required seminar courses; B) creation and utilization of industry inspired cohorts and small teams led and mentored by upper-level doctoral students; and C) strong emphasis on education in entrepreneurship and commercialization of technology.

These professional skills are enhanced by D) a core and elective curriculum developed and taught by over 50 faculty from 11 supporting departments and three schools/colleges, with E) integrated research by the same faculty that feeds back into component A by lending material for practicing the soft-skills training. The trainees will have the opportunity to learn and give feedback to widely varying research topics and individual points of view.

The goal is to cultivate trainees who become the bridge between science, engineering, and entrepreneurship within the rapidly growing field of 2D quantum materials. The proposed curriculum for the trainees (including: quantum mechanics; quantum computing; quantum transport; materials characterization; and machine learning, in addition to the materials core courses) will facilitate research progress in the area of quantum materials and more specifically in 2D quantum materials, while giving the trainees the required skills to make future discoveries.

This project will create a new permanent concentration of study, 2D-QMaD, within the MSEN graduate program.

The NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Program is designed to encourage the development and implementation of bold, new potentially transformative models for STEM graduate education training. The program is dedicated to effective training of STEM graduate students in high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas through comprehensive traineeship models that are innovative, evidence-based, and aligned with changing workforce and research needs. 

This project is jointly funded by NRT and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).  

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.