Nanoscience and Nanoengineering students and faculty are interviewed about their involvement in the statewide biotechnology research center BioSNTR funded by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR program and the State of South Dakota.
Graduate Education
Nanoscience and Nanoengineering PhD
The Nano Ph.D. program
offers a research-intensive degree focused on nanoscience and nanotechnology,
with current emphases in nano-electronics and nano-photonics; nano-imaging and
bio-nanotechnology; and nano-composites and their
applications. A multi-disciplinary core curriculum is taken by students from
diverse science and engineering backgrounds. These “core” courses are intended
to introduce students to contemporary topics in nanoscience and nanotechnology,
and to initiate a cross-disciplinary approach to research and learning. These
courses can usually be completed in one, or at most two years. In addition to
this core, students are expected to pursue, or take coursework equivalent to,
an M.S. degree, in addition to the Nano standard curriculum. Coursework supporting
the students research focus are selected in consultation with their
dissertation advisor when drafting the student’s program of study (see the Nano
PhD program handbook for guidance).
Examples of active research areas
are: development of next generation solar cell technologies utilizing
semiconductor nanostructures, development of advanced light and electron
microscopies for nano-bio-imaging in live cells, mechano-biology of
chondrocytes and their signaling pathways, development of nano-scale fluorescent
energy transfer based sensors of intra-cellular forces in human epithelial
kidney cells, synthesis and characterization of a variety of nanoparticle and
nanofiber based nanocomposites, and multiple projects involving nano-scale
spectroscopy of plasmonic and nanophotonic systems using ultrafast lasers and
state of the art imaging and spectroscopy instrumentation developed by Nano
faculty.