Conference: 2023 Gordon Research Conference and Seminar on the Science of Adhesion; South Hadley, Massachusetts; 23-28 July 2023

This award provides support for 30 students and postdoctoral associates and ten early career researchers to participate in the 2023 Gordon Research Conference and Gordon Research Seminar on the Science of Adhesion. The meeting will be held at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, US, from July 22 to 28, 2023. This award aims to increase the participation of students and postdoctoral associates as well as early career researchers from underrepresented groups in science and engineering. Support provided by this award will facilitate the participation of a diverse cohort of students and early career researchers from a broad range of institutions and disciplines. Adhesion science is interdisciplinary, and participants from multiple fields will be supported. The engagement of students and early career researchers in this meeting will help to ensure continued innovation in adhesion science and engineering. The Gordon Research Conference and the affiliated Gordon Research Seminar on the Science of Adhesion bring together a community with expertise and interests in interfacial and surface phenomena with an emphasis on the relationship between mechanics, materials, chemistry, and structure of systems where adhesion plays a controlling role. The 2023 meeting will focus on advancing our ability to understand and control adhesion across length scales for a broad set of applications. The meeting will include discussions of advances in understanding adhesion and interfaces in soft, structural, and biological materials. Interfaces with deterministically controlled adhesion are crucial in a range of applications, including medical devices, robotics, human-machine interfaces, and sustainable materials. This project is jointly funded by the Mechanics of Materials and Structures (MoMS) Program in the Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (CMMI) and the Biomaterials (BMAT) Program in the Division of Materials Research (DMR). This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.