Daily Archives: February 24, 2016

Profile- The Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute

The University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA is providing a program this summer through The Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Institute. The program provides around eight students to conduct cutting edge research related to environmental and health aspects of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The students are given the opportunity to work under a faculty member, who will serve as a mentor. The departments the mentors are from include Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chemistry, and Pharmacy.

The program runs from May 31st, 2016 though July 29th, 2016 and is a full-time research opportunity. The students will engage in daily research that is interdisciplinary in cutting-edge research topics. There are many projects that correlate to what the student wishes to study and what mentor they have. Examples of research topics include fabrication and optimization of nanomaterial-enabled technologies for point of use water treatment conducted under associate professor David Cwierty. Another research topic includes applications of nanoparticles in drug delivery to the lungs under assistant professor Jennifer Fiege.

Each week the students will attend weekly seminars on topics related to the research. They will also attend a technical communication workshop to improve skills on writing in research and giving presentations. There will also fun social events on the weekends for the students to engage in. Finally, at the end of the program the students will present posters of their research project in a campus-wide conference sponsored by the UI Graduate College.

In order to be eligible for this program, the student must have completed at least one year of college and will be returning for at least one year of undergraduate study before graduation. It is exclusively for students majoring in chemistry, physics, engineering (chemical and biochemical or environmental preferred), pharmaceutics, or occupational and environmental health. The student must also be thinking about or pursing graduate school and a career in research. They also must be permanent citizens of the United States.

The online application must be fully completed online by March 1st. In addition to the application, the student must provide their college transcript and two letters of recommendation from science professor and/or mentors. The student must finally add a short essay of personal statement on why they are interested in extensive summer research. It should talk about their interests in the science field and which mentor they are most intrigued to study under. In this section, they can also include any explanations of classwork or experience to help the application reviewer.

The program, overall, includes my career interests. It allows me to explore full-time research and this will help me decide what I want to do after undergraduate. It provides a stipend of $ 4,500, includes housing and meals, and also provides some funds for travel. It is a competitive program and the application is due soon, however, it is exactly what I am looking to do this summer.