Achievements

IGERT Program       Achievements       IGERT Trainees       IGERT Faculty       

By virtue of their interdisciplinary nature, rapid advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology can only thrive in a collaborative environment in which faculty and students from different disciplines discuss ideas, work together, and share their expertise.  The Center for Nanotechnology (CNT) at the University of Washington (UW) was created by the University Initiatives Fund (UIF) in 1997 to address these changing realities.  The CNT brings together faculty members from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Pharmacy, and the School of Medicine, creating a truly interdisciplinary force to educate students across departmental lines.  The core components of CNT consist of (1) a UIF graduate award program that financially supports multidisciplinary graduate education; (2) a state-of-the art user facility that provides sophisticated instrumentation for innovative nanotechnology research; and (3) a seminar series that allows faculty and students to disseminate knowledge in an informal setting.  Through UIF, the UW has endorsed a major commitment to developing the foundation for an excellent graduate traineeship program in nanotechnology.

As the CNT emerged as a highly successful focal point for building long-lasting collaborations among faculty, students, industry, and other regional research institutions, it received a National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (NSF-IGERT) in Nanotechnology award in 2000.  The award puts in place a Ph.D. in Nanotechnology track program tied closely to other science and engineering disciplines, an undertaking designed to educate a new generation of graduates with interdisciplinary expertise and communication skills geared toward the technological revolution.  IGERT also promotes major efforts in both recruiting the best students around the world and providing financial support for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.  There is no doubt that IGERT has changed the landscape in graduate education at the UW.

IGERT Links:
NSF IGERT Program
IGERT funded projects