Boulder School for Condensed Matter and Materials Physics

The Boulder School for Condensed Matter and Materials Physics provides education for advanced graduate students and postdoctoral fellows working in condensed matter physics, materials science and related fields. The goal is to enable students to work at the frontiers of science and technology by providing expert training not easily available within the traditional system of graduate education and postdoctoral apprenticeship. Boulder School strongly emphasizes pedagogy, breadth and depth of material covered. It contributes an educational experience to new generations of talented scientists interested in condensed matter and material science through four weeks of structured lectures, tutorials, discussions, poster sessions and student-run seminars. The Boulder School plays an important role in the condensed matter and materials physics community. It provides outreach to the public in the Boulder and greater Denver area, exposing its citizens to modern materials science. Through a diverse and evolving set of lectures, posted on the School’s website, and webcast on YouTube and video-recorded, it contributes to the community well beyond student participants attending the School. Student feedback indicates that in addition to providing a great deal of learning material, the School provides an invaluable scientific network that lasts well into students’ professional careers. Schools may also provide opportunities to expose local teachers and high school students to modern materials science. New Schools are planned for the coming 5 years, starting with “Self-Organizing Matter: From Inanimate to the Animate” (2024). Proposals for new Schools are solicited from the condensed matter and material science community at large with advice from the School’s Advisory Board. Innovations and improvements to the School’s operations will be implemented. The School meets annually during July in Boulder Colorado. 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.