Our educational objective is to provide an exciting research environment and opportunities for career development for young scientists. Many students get their first exposure to research in our Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. The interdisciplinary nature of the research in the Center provides a wonderful example of how materials scientists, physicists, biologists, chemists and engineers work side-by-side to forge new discoveries.
Strong efforts to recruit talented female and minority students have been made by our Center faculty members during campus visits and through collaborations with faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In 2003, 48% of our REU participants were members of under-represented groups and 58% were female. In addition to mentoring the research projects, special activities have been initiated to encourage students recruited from these institutions to pursue graduate study (lower right) and ultimately form a pool of well-prepared, enthusiastic and self-motivated future scientists and engineers.