The department is proud to announce that Naomi J. Halas, Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor of Chemistry, along with a team of researchers, has received the National Science Foundation's IGERT award.  This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award supports the establishment of a unique multidisciplinary graduate training program in Nanophotonics at Rice University.  Nanophotonics is a rapidly emerging field of nanoscale science and engineering based on generating, controlling and manipulating light at nanoscale dimensions. Nanophotonics spans the traditional disciplines of physics, chemistry, electrical and bioengineering with the promise of important technological advances in industries ranging from electronics and magnetic recording to biomedicine and homeland security. This program builds on the strong, multidisciplinary team of theorists and experimentalists in the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice University. This team includes Peter Nordlander, Professor of Physics and Astronomy and ECE; Bruce Johnson, Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Chemistry; Rebekah Drezek, Stanley C. Moore Assistant Professor of Bioengineering and Assistant Professor of ECE; and Jason Hafner, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Chemistry. 

The cornerstones of this IGERT are state-of-the-art computational design and fabrication techniques for nanophotonic components, devices, and systems. The intellectual merit and major focus of this IGERT is graduate training in the design, fabrication, and use of nanoscale optical components compatible with living systems. Key program elements include a core curriculum for all trainees including research methodology and scientific ethics, the opportunity for dual advisors from different departments, internship options at industrial and national laboratories and a seminar series featuring internationally renowned visiting speakers in Nanophotonics. Broader impacts of this program include extending Rice University's successful undergraduate recruitment program for Hispanic and other underrepresented minorities into the graduate study of Nanophotonics through a new, multiyear summer research program, The CONJUNTO Scholars & Mentors Program. The purpose of this training program is to create leaders in this field with the courage and vision to develop new research breakthroughs and invent new technologies by acquiring the professional and personal skills essential to achieving these goals. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Also see Rice News Release.