Northern Student Scientists at Argonne

An effective way to train next generation scientists is to expose students to a world‐class research environment and involve them in frontline research projects early in their academic careers. For this purpose, we are establishing a program called Northern Student Scientists at Argonne (NSSA), via our collaborations with Argonne National Laboratory, a world‐leading research institute. Fortunately, for this program and our ongoing research efforts, Argonne is located in close proximity to the NIU campus, within approximately an hour driving distance.

Currently, our group is actively collaborating with Argonne scientists on projects involving solar cells and nanocatalysis. Consequently, students in our group are appointed as Argonne Guest Students via Argonne's Division of Educational Programs, so they can conduct interdisciplinary research projects on‐site. The students are being trained to use specialized techniques at Argonne's cutting‐edge facilities including electron microscopy at the Electron Microscopy Center, synchrotron X‐ray techniques at the Advanced Photon Source, and various nanomaterials synthesis and device fabrication skills at the Center for Nanoscale Materials.

More importantly, the NSSA program provides NIU students with an excellent research environment, in which students can receive mentoring from Argonne's scientists and further develop their problem‐solving, critical thinking, creative and innovative reasoning skills, as well as their love for learning. All these efforts can greatly help students build their career and provide significant benefits in terms of future employment.

Points of Pride – Students' Career Development

Former graduate students Heather Barkholtz is now the Chemical Test Section Chief at Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Chi‐Kai Lin is now a Research Scientist at Apple, Lauren Grabstanowicz is a Research Scientist at Alcoa, and Zhenzhen Yang is a Staff Chemist at Chemical Science and Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory.

Ripple Effect

Other faculty members joined our NSSA program including Prof. Tao Li (Chemistry), Prof. Yingwen Chen (Chemistry), and Prof. Kyu Taek Cho (Mechanical Engineering).