Infrastructure Improvement 2014 - 2017, $3 million

In 2014, NSF awarded nearly $6 million to Nebraska and Kansas for collaborative research, through an EPSCoR RII Track-2 award.

For this project—Imaging and Controlling Ultrafast Dynamics of Atoms, Molecules, and Nanostructures (#1430493)—physicists, chemists, and electrical engineers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Kansas State University and the University of Kansas work together to advance the imaging and control of how light interacts with matter. The work aims to benefit laser technology, solar energy capture, nanotechnology, and optogenetics (the neuroscientific study of genetically light-sensitized neurons)

In addition to the research, the consortium’s planned education, outreach, and workforce development activities involve partnerships with small colleges in Nebraska and Kansas, summer workshops for high school physics teachers, and a variety of programs for students. The grant was one of three science and engineering regional consortia to receive funding totaling nearly $18 million for 2014-17 through NSF EPSCoR.