Summer Nanoscience Academy for High Schoolers

Austin, Texas—Teachers and their students will convene on The University of Texas at Austin campus August 3-4 to explore and gain hands-on experience in nanoscience.

Nine high school teachers and 13 of their students from throughout Central Texas will attend the first annual Summer Nanoscience Academy, where they will explore the nanocosmos using electron microscopy, tour microelectronics and nanoscience facilities, and synthesize nanomaterials.

A special forum for the science teachers will address teaching nanoscience in high school.

The Summer Nanoscience Academy is hosted by the Atomic & Molecular Imaging IGERT program. IGERT, which stands for Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship, is a National Science Foundation program that seeks to train Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background and the technical, professional and personal skills needed to address the global questions of the future.

As of Fall 2007, 20 faculty and 12 graduate students from both the College of Natural Sciences and Cockrell School of Engineering participate in this IGERT program.

Interested media are invited to attend the hands-on nanomaterials laboratory session on Saturday, August 4, from 9 a.m. – noon. Students will be synthesizing both gold and magnetite nanoparticles and conducting a few simple experiments to illustrate the nanoparticles’ unique properties.