Achievement

Overwhelmingly, the IGERT program has provided students research and publication opportunities at all stages of their work in the program. For instance, one student has developed a new technique for the controlled release of molecular loads contained within liposomes. Three others were co-investigators on a study of nanorods and the surface modification of nanorods for in vivo biomedical imaging. Another has investigated near-field plasmon coupling between closely spaced nanoparticles (NPs). Others have studied symmetry-breaking in one of the simplest nanostructures, a nanoparticle dimer consisting of two gold nanoparticles or a nanoparticle and a nanoshell adjacent to each other. These studies expand understanding of the range of physical effects that can be observed in adjacent metallic nanostructures. Yet another IGERT trainee is co-inventor on a patent. [U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61/267,397 filed December 7, 2009.]