Molecular Characterization Facility
Abstract
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, under authority of 10 U.S.C. ¤ 2362 and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OASD(R&E)), allocated $28 million to assist Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI) with equipment and instrumentation enhancements to improve their research and education capabilities in scientific disciplines important to the defense mission. The program aims enhance the capacity of HBCU/MI to participate broadly in defense research programs and activities and to increase the number of graduates, including underrepresented minorities, in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Opened in 2005 as the first new research university of the 21st century, UC Merced is one of the few minority-serving-institutions that are research-intensive and Ph.D. granting. This grant is intended to fill an important gap at this newest University of California campus, the lack of a shared facility for characterizing molecules. This proposal seeks to acquire three major instruments that are needed intermittently by a number of research groups and are most suitably housed in a shared facility: a liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer with a high resolution mass detector that can analyze complex mixtures, a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer that can access the far-infrared spectral region and work in attenuated total reflection (ATR) mode, and a highly sensitive fluorometer that is highly upgradable and compatible with many sample formats. All three instruments will be co-located with two existing NMR spectrometers. Hence, the three new instruments and the NMRs will constitute the core of a nascent molecular characterization facility (MCF) that will provide one stop services to all campus users who need to characterize molecules. The instruments will be used mainly by postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduate research students after suitable training. Their use and maintenance will be supervised by the facility director. Impact on Research: These molecular characterization capabilities are indispensable in modern research in chemistry, materials, biology and other disciplines. Currently, researchers at UC Merced must travel to or send samples to facilities elsewhere to access such capabilities. The addition of such instrumentation will notably bolster a diverse array of research projects that are connected to DODÕs interests, from optoelectronic materials such as semiconductor nanocrystals and perovskites to in vivo nanosensors, mechanistic investigation of organic reactions, and the molecular basis of traumatic brain injury. Impact on Education: UC Merced is located in a culturally and ethnically diverse, fast growing, strategically important but underserved region in California. Hence, it is uniquely positioned to provide transformative learning experiences to traditionally underrepresented groups and advance the nationÕs interest in building a diverse, highly skilled STEM workforce. The MCF will open up a variety of new educational opportunities. Our graduate students will directly benefit from the numerous research projects this facility will enable. The facility will also provide valuable hands-on training to UC Merced undergraduate researchers as well as undergraduate students from other institutions participating in our Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. The instrumentation will also benefit high school students participating in the American Chemical SocietyÕs Project SEED program and high school teachers participating in our new teacher development program.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 12, 2017
- Source ID
- W911NF1610522
Entities
People
- Anne Myers Kelley
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Office of the Secretary of Defense
- University of California