As every aspect of our society continues to speed up, the far-reaching potential of room-temperature superconducting materials could hasten our daily lives to light speed. Physics researchers’ ability to understand these materials may eventually lead to new possibilities, including ultraefficient electricity grids, ultrafast and energy-efficient computer chips and ultrapowerful magnets that can be used to levitate trains and control fusion reactors.
This is just one area of materials physics, and there are many more. Thanks to a new grant, New Mexico State University can invite more students to participate in this type of research.
NMSU, in partnership with National Science Foundation Quantum Foundry at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), was awarded a $1 million grant this fall from the National Science Foundation to broaden participation in materials research and encourage more graduate and undergraduate students to earn advanced degrees. This is part of the NSF’s $50 million in Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) awards given to 15 collaborative research projects nationwide to expand participation and access to materials-focused facilities, education, training and careers.
“This project will support three to four graduate students each year during the academic year and the summer,” said Stefan Zollner, NMSU physics professor, department head and principal investigator of the grant. “It will also cover their in-state tuition and health insurance. Over the course of the three years of the grant, we hope to produce somewhere between 10 to 12 students achieving master’s degrees in physics or in chemical engineering. Further, we hope to support students who then will consider moving on into a Ph.D. program.”
The program also will support an additional three or four undergraduates. Both graduate students and undergraduates will be paid through the program funds. The first three NMSU graduate students supported by the program enrolled this fall.
By partnering with NMSU, UCSB will benefit from access to a talented pool of graduate applicants and an inclusive culture. The research results obtained in this partnership will be published in joint peer-reviewed journal articles and presented at conferences, with authors from both institutions, including students.
“We look forward to collaborating with our colleagues at New Mexico State University and hosting their students in our summer internship research program,” said Ania Bleszynski Jayich, co-principal investigator and UCSB director of the NSF Quantum Foundry.
This Partnership for Research and Education on Quantum Materials and Processes (PREQ) will focus on materials research in two cohesive interdisciplinary thrusts with 11 faculty members at both institutions related to (1) the superconductivity of ruthenates and their heterostructures and (2) the infrared optical response of topological insulators and semimetals.
Joint research at both partner institutions will advance knowledge in feedback loops involving materials synthesis, device fabrication, quantum transport, optical characterization and density functional theory, enabling novel electronic and photonic devices and applications.
Zollner also is partnering with Associate Dean Anne Hubbell in NMSU’s Honors College for an added incentive to attract master’s students. Hubbell is a key supporter of the Master’s Accelerated Program, which offers NMSU graduates with a GPA in good standing, to remain at NMSU for one more year to earn a master’s degree in their discipline.
“This program will change the lives of students who may not have otherwise considered pursuing an advanced degree,” said Hubbell. “I look forward to supporting the efforts of the amazing NMSU/UCSB team.”
A master’s degree in materials physics offers a wide array of high-paying career opportunities.
“Moving on into a Ph.D. program is one possible career path,” Zollner said. “Another possible career path is to work for one of the national labs that we have in the U.S. Here in New Mexico, we have Los Alamos and Sandia. There is the Department of Defense, the Army or Air Force. Graduates from this program might work for Intel, or they might work for other companies that are in advanced manufacturing, where the manufacturing relies heavily on advanced materials. Many of my Ph.D. students have gone to Intel.”
Zollner is confident success in this program over the next two years will give him the data he needs to apply for the $4 million, six-year NSF grant.
“I hope that this proposal will attract additional students in physics and materials engineering to our undergraduate program and increase the number of our master’s students once they know that we have a dedicated funding stream.”
