Conference: 2023 Liquid Crystals GRC and GRS: Learning from Nature to Transform Technology through Liquid Crystal Science

This award supports travel registration fees for undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, and under-represented, and junior faculty to attend and present at the the 2023 Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Liquid Crystals: “Learning from Nature to Transform Technology through Liquid Crystal Science” and the Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) taking place at the Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, New Hampshire between June 24–30 2023. The conference will bring together a diverse and interdisciplinary community of students and scientists pushing the frontiers of liquid crystal science and technology. The conference will involve cross-disciplinary researchers discussing research at the intersection of materials science, engineering, biology, chemistry, and physics, that is redefining and reinvigorating the field of LC science. Particularly emphasis on biological and biologically-inspired systems will be made. Besides broadening participation through the involvement of a diversity of participants, the conference includes a session designed to address diversity and inclusion in the scientific workplace. The GRS is a dedicated avenue for doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to present and discuss their work and establish collaborative relationships with their peers. Mentors and trainee moderators will facilitate active participation in scientific discussion. 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.