Dept. Chemistry University of Washington

A wide range of projects are underway in this interdisciplinary area, which involves a number of collaborative efforts with other UW departments and other universities. Research in materials chemistry and nanotechnology at the UW has major emphases in surface physical chemistry, nanostructured materials, catalysis, photonic and optoelectronic materials, computational modelling and dynamics, biologically-inspired materials and surface patterning for applications in biotechnology, chemical sensing and microfluidics.

We have a particularly strong research effort in the area of photonic materials, anchored by a NSF sponsored Science and Technology Center (http://stc-mditr.org/). The Center, which is headquartered at the University of Washington, represents a consortium of major research universities: the University of Arizona, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, the University of California Berkeley, and the University of California Santa Barbara Students working in this area receive a broad training including synthesis, characterization and determining the physical/optical properties of materials.

The Center for Nanotechnology offers unique opportunities for interdisciplinary studies with colleagues in molecular biotechnology, bioengineering, electrical engineering and/or physics. Research includes interfacing surface/materials chemistry with problems in biochemistry/biotechnology, novel nanostructured materials, micro- and nano-electronics, electro-optics, new tools to non-invasively probe biological systems or materials with unprecedented nanoscale resolution or sensitivity, molecular machines.

Nanotechnology "Early-Bird" Graduate Awards offer summer research stipends for incoming chemistry graduate students (for the summer before their first year) to pursue research in a laboratory of your choice, and travel expenses to attend a national Nanotechnology conference during your first year. Application is automatic for students who check "Nanotechnology" under fields of interest in the application to the chemistry graduate program. Nanotech Fellowships offer full 2- or 3-year stipends for students to pursue research directed by co-advisors from different fields.

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