Collaborative U.Va. Nanotech Projects Secure Seed Funds

Scientific discoveries at the nanoscale have the potential to revolutionize countless areas of life, from medicine to manufacturing.  But working on this minuscule level takes expertise from a wide variety of fields.  In recognition of this, the University of Virginia's Institute for Nanoscale and Quantum Scientific and Technological Advanced Research (nanoSTAR) has established seed funding to encourage cross-school, collaborative research projects.

Six innovative, interdisciplinary projects have just earned nanoSTAR seed grants.  The funds will support cutting edge research in nanoSTAR's three thrust areas: nanoelectronics, medicine, and energy and the environment.

"Proposals were selected based on their technical merit, the establishment of a new cross-school collaboration, and the potential to attract future funding," noted Lisa Friedersdorf, managing director of the Institute. "We are optimistic that these seed projects will grow into new research areas within nanoSTAR."

The winning proposals include:

• Multi-emissive Boron PLA Nanoparticles for Vascular Optical Hypoxia Imaging
  Cassandra Fraser, chemistry and Richard Price, biomedical engineering
• A Novel Active Passivation Film for Silicon Photovoltaic Cells
  Mool Gupta, electrical and computer engineering and John Yates, chemistry
• Low Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM) Studies of Nanoscale Resolved
  Reaction Kinetics on Catalytic Surfaces
  Ian Harrison, chemistry and Jack Hudson, chemical engineering
• The Adaptosome, a Nanoscale Delivery System for Specific Cell Targeting
  Roy Ogle, medicine and biomedical engineering and Anthony Spano, biology
• TINNE- Techniques for Innovative Nanoscale Neuromorphic Electronics
  Mircea Stan, electrical and computer engineering and William Levy, neurological surgery
• Artificial Cilia for the Investigation of Cell Cooperativity in Wound Healing
  Keith Williams, physics; Brian Helmke, biomedical engineering; Mool Gupta, electrical and computer engineering; and Kurt Kolasinski, chemistry (West Chester University)

Grants of between $20,000-30,000 each will enable the teams to develop preliminary data to strengthen their external grant applications to agencies such as the National Institutes for Health and the National Science Foundation.

The nanoSTAR seed funds were made possible through funding from the Office of the Vice President for Research, the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of Medicine.

"We're very excited about this seed program and our hope is that we'll be able to secure additional funding to support more seed projects in the coming years," said Friedersdorf.

About the nanoSTAR Institute

The nanoSTAR Institute encompasses nanoscale and quantum research, education, and business development projects in three broad theme areas: nanoelectronics, biology and medicine, and energy and the environment.

The Institute facilitates faculty collaborations, assists with large multidisciplinary and center level proposals, acts as a liaison with industry and relevant government agencies, and provides seed funds and support for new interdisciplinary research endeavors.

The Institute collaborates with businesses and other universities to leverage resources and expertise and enable the acceleration of research discoveries through technology transfer and commercialization.