IRES: Applied Energy Innovation in Organic and Bio Materials

This IRES project supports groups of U.S. students to engage in summer international research experiences to investigate organic and biomaterials for energy innovation in experimental research labs at Yamagata University (YU), Japan. A cohort of six undergraduate students and one PhD student travels to Japan each summer for a nine-week research experience guided by a host professor at the Faculty of Science (Kojirakawa Campus) or the Faculty of Engineering (Yonezawa Campus). Pre-program preparation activities and a one-week orientation session at the University of Vermont (UVM) provide laboratory, Japanese language, and culture training necessary for the students to transition smoothly into the research groups in Yamagata prefecture. The host site at Yamagata University provides a safe, but culturally unique experience to broaden the global perspectives of the IRES participants while training them in cutting edge research projects within world-class facilities. A series of cultural and outreach events guide the student participants towards growth as global citizens. The interdisciplinary research team of faculty and mentors allows student participation from STEM fields spanning physics, chemistry, biology, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, and computer science. The project builds on a decade-long research collaboration between UVM and YU. Soft materials like organic semiconductors, polymers, biomaterials, and composite nanomaterials offer transformative potential for energy innovation. This project trains participating students with discrete, fundamental materials science research projects within the space of biomimetic and nanomaterials for energy applications. Examples include photonic nanostructures like those found in shells, gemstones, insects, and lizards, light harvesting inspired by plant-based pigments, and electrochemical conversion and storage of energy. Interdisciplinary collaboration in these areas may ultimately yield new technologies for energy conversion and storage that are not assembled but grown at little to no cost, and not recycled as high-tech components but decomposed. The projects are fundamental in nature but ultimately use-inspired to prepare students for innovation in materials for clean energy applications. 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.