nanoSTAR Institute Seeks Proposals for New Seed Program

The University of Virginia’s nanoSTAR Institute is requesting proposals from faculty teams for its new nanoSTAR Center Seed Program. The goal is to provide the foundation for a new multidisciplinary center that would pursue collaborative research and education focused on addressing a “grand challenge,” such as next-generation electronic devices.

Teams of U.Va. faculty members from across its 11 schools are encouraged to apply for the funding – up to $200,000 over a period of up to two years – that would provide the winning team with the time and resources needed to pursue external center-level or program-level funding.

Teams may focus on discovery or application of nanoscale science and engineering to address a particular societal need, such as sustainability, or to pursue a topic that could have broad societal impact.

“Encouraging multidisciplinary, team-oriented research is at the core of nanoSTAR’s mission,” said Stuart Wolf, director of the nanoSTAR Institute, and a professor with joint appointments in materials science and engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and physics in the College of Arts & Sciences. “Establishing an externally funded multidisciplinary center takes considerable effort and planning, and we are excited to provide this support to the winning team.”

The project is funded by the nanoSTAR Institute, the Office of the Vice President for Research and the schools that would be associated with the winning team.

Letters of intent are due June 7, and full proposals are due Aug. 15. Email questions to nanostar@virginia.edu or contact Jeff Fox, managing director of the U.Va. nanoSTAR Institute, at 434-982-5868 or jjf5x@virginia.edu.

The Institute for Nanoscale and Quantum Scientific and Technological Advanced Research, or nanoSTAR, encourages, facilitates and supports collaborative research, education and commercialization in the key areas of electronics, biomedicine and energy and the environment through partnerships with academia, industry and national laboratories.