UAB Nanomaterials Research Funded Grant Includes International Component

Two researchers, Andrei V. Stanishevsky and Yogesh K. Vohra, from the UAB Department of Physics in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics have received a $414,000 Material World Network award through the Division of Materials Research at the National Science Foundation to support a project on international collaboration in nanomaterials research.

September 25, 2008

• $414,000 for nanostructured materials research

• Grant brings international collaboration

• UAB students opportunity for overseas research

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Two researchers, Andrei V. Stanishevsky and Yogesh K. Vohra, from the UAB Department of Physics in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics have received a $414,000 Material World Network award through the Division of Materials Research at the National Science Foundation to support a project on international collaboration in nanomaterials research.

The project will continue ongoing UAB based research into nanostructured, compositionally graded and multiphase carbon based materials, specifically to advance the fundamental knowledge of the phenomena associated with the fabrication of such materials.  Nanostructured diamond materials' applications are wide-ranging, because their smoothness and hardness open up numerous possibilities for use in cutting and surgical tools along with biomedical devices.

In addition to the project's research benefits, the Material World Network award funds also allow for international collaboration.  Scientists and students from the UAB Department of Physics' Center for Nanoscale Materials and Bio-integration will partner with peers from Poland's Technical University of Lodz and its European Union supported Centre for Excellence.  The international component of the study makes it very unique, according to Andrei V. Stanishevsky, Ph.D., associate professor of Physics at UAB.

"The funding is a first of its kind in physics for UAB, which will begin a closer collaboration with our partners in Europe," Stanishevsky said.

"This is an exciting opportunity to expose Alabama's undergraduate and graduate students to international research in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and offer interdisciplinary research training," said Yogesh Vohra, Ph.D., UAB professor of Physics and Director, UAB Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration.

Approximately 20 UAB students will participate in the Material World Network project.  The work will be conducted over a three year period. 

"There is a large potential for our students' and the university's growth in global training and future collaborations," Stanishevsky said.