Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program at Dartmouth

The 2025 application cycle has closed.

Applications include:

• Background/identifying information
• Unofficial academic transcript
• Resume
• Two letters of recommendation from faculty
• Brief description (one or two paragraphs) of previous research experience and how this would relate to the Dartmouth REU program
• Brief description of how participating in the Dartmouth REU program will benefit your future academic and professional career
• Ranked list of research projects from the choices below

Dates & Deadlines (2025)

• January 1–February 15: Application window
• By March 30: Notification of acceptance
• June 22–August 9: Program dates

1. Novel high-performance non-rare earth permanent magnets: Ian Baker
High-performance permanent magnets are used widely in applications such as wind turbine generators, hybrid and electric vehicles, and elevators. The increasing demand necessitates reliable alternatives to the expensive and environmentally-unfriendly Sm-Co and Nd-Fe-B rare earth (RE) magnets used currently. In this project, the student will explore the inexpensive non-RE permanent magnets MnAl and NiFe. The project will involve processing these materials, determining the phases present using x-ray diffraction, characterizing the microstructure using electron backscattered diffraction in a scanning electron microscope, and measuring the magnetic properties using a vibrating sample magnetometer.

2. Band engineering of 2D-conducting oxide semiconductors for flexible electronics: William Scheideler
2D metal oxides are an emerging class of transparent, ultra-thin materials that could enhance the performance of wearable sensors and display technology. This work seeks to understand how alloyed liquid metals can control the formation of nanocrystalline vs. amorphous phases in 2D oxides while engineering their electronic structure and optical properties. Using the rapid liquid metal printing approach developed by our lab, the student will fabricate 2D oxide nanosheets and measure the materials' electronic and optical properties to be correlated with crystallinity through x-ray diffraction measurements. The student will also integrate these materials into thin-film transistors and measure switching characteristics to understand the impact of doping/alloyed channel materials.

3. Effect of heterogeneous processes on ice microstructure: Emily Asenath-Smith
Ice is a highly versatile material: it presents as an adversarial surface foulant but also as a strategic building material. Across all scenarios, how and where the ice forms and what impurities are present can have significant effects on the ice microstructure and material properties. From this perspective, the student will study the microstructure of ices that have been heterogeneously grown on surfaces or with soluble and insoluble impurities. The goal of this research is to connect heterogeneous factors in the processing environment to microstructure and material properties. In addition to carrying out hands-on experiments and microstructural characterization, the student will have opportunities to measure the mechanical properties of the ices.

4. Engineering the interface of sodium ceramic electrolytes for sodium metal batteries: Weiyang (Fiona) Li
Sodium-ion superionic conductors are one of the most promising sodium-ion conducting ceramic solid electrolytes owing to their high sodium-ion conductivity and excellent electrochemical and thermal stabilities. However, to date, there has been little success in the development of high-performance solid-state sodium batteries using this exceptional material. This project aims to address the interfacial challenges with ultrathin metal oxide materials by atomic layer deposition. A suite of characterization methods (including XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS) will be used to analyze materials' interfacial morphologies, microstructures, composition, and evolution.

5. Rapid thermoelectric harvesting optimization with numerical methods and machine learning: Yan Li
Thermoelectric materials offer exciting opportunities to harvest wasted energy from various sources, including the sun, industrial equipment, automobiles, and the human body. This project aims to optimize thermoelectric systems using numerical methods and machine learning. Students will also explore the impact of structural architecture and operating conditions on system performance, and will be trained to set up experimental systems, design structures/architectures using CAD, and generate training data for machine learning. Additionally, they will use numerical simulations, such as finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics, to develop numerical models for systems evaluation.

6. Multifunctional electronic textiles for health and protection: Katherine Mirica
Wearable electronics hold promise for enhancing health monitoring, alleviating disability, increasing personal safety, and tracking environmental pollution. Modern wireless connectivity and cloud computing offer unparalleled opportunities for broad deployment and integration of wearable electronic devices into real-time control of industrial systems and into personal protective equipment. Smart textile sensors, in particular, have the potential to advance the impact of wearable electronics through breathable, versatile devices and garments capable of electronically transduced interactions with the local environment. Creation of multifunctional textiles capable of simultaneous detection, filtration, and decontamination of toxic materials has the potential to significantly enhance the applicability of smart textiles in personal protective equipment. In this project, the student will produce multifunctional electronic textiles through solvothermal growth of conductive metal-organic materials on the surface of cotton fabric. The student will use powder x-ray crystallography and scanning electron microscopy to characterize the textiles, quantify their performance in sensing and filtration, and examine their robustness through a variety of chemical and physical tests.

7. Understanding the microstructure of snow firn: Zoe Courville
In polar regions, snow falls to the ground and accumulates over time into a structure known as firn, which is essentially any snow that has lasted more than one year on the ground without melting. Firn is a porous structure comprised of ice and air phases, and understanding how firn compacts over time is important for interpreting ice core records of past climate and determining the amount of ice stored in the polar ice caps. The student involved with this project will make measurements of firn density and microstructure in the lab (a cold room laboratory set at -10 degrees C), using various instrumentation, including a micro-computed-tomography scanner used to make three-dimensional x-ray scans of samples.

8. Understanding the origin of two-level systems in Al2O3: Mattias Fitzpatrick
Modern quantum computers suffer from decoherence due to two-level systems (TLSs) in constituent materials. We aim to understand the true physical origin of these TLSs and in what portions of the circuit they reside. The student will grow Al2O3 films under the same growth conditions used in the fabrication of superconducting qubits and compare them to crystalline control films made using atomic layer deposition. Both sets of films will be characterized using atomic force microscopy, x-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction spectroscopy to assess overall morphology, composition, and crystallinity.

9. Defect-insensitive solar materials based on earth-abundant elements: Jifeng Liu
Solar photovoltaics have achieved rapid progress in recent years. However, the efficiency of commercial solar panels is currently limited to ~20%. To further enhance the efficiency in a cost-effective and environmentally friendly manner, this project experimentally investigates defect-insensitive solar material candidates screened via computational modeling. We will focus on thin film material synthesis, structural characterization (via x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy), and optoelectronic characterization (via photoluminescence and photocurrent measurements) such that these new defect-insensitive, earth-abundant solar absorbers can be stacked on top of existing Si solar cells to boost efficiency at minimal extra cost.

10. Controlling the photophysical properties of liquid crystals using switchable dopants: Ivan Aprahamian
Adaptive liquid crystals (LCs) are used in a myriad of applications from active smart surfaces to sensors, color filters, and responsive reflectors. Chiral switchable dopants are usually at the heart of these applications, though the nature of the interactions between them and the host LC, and how these interactions control the self-assembly and helical twist of the chiral LC, is poorly understood. The student will work on structure-property analyses to develop an understanding of the intermolecular interactions and structural parameters that control both the helical twisting power (HTP) and the change in helical twisting power (DHTP) upon switching of chiral photochromic dopants. The student will synthesize chiral hydrazone switches using protocols established in the research group. Once the compounds are at hand, the student will use NMR and UV spectroscopies to characterize the compounds and study their switching properties. Next, the chiral switches will be doped in commercially available liquid crystals and their HTP and DHTP will be assessed using polarized optical microscopy. The student will be mentored by a graduate student and will be trained on all the relevant instruments.

11. Investigation of Pt-containing ternary nitride films for functional applications: Rebecca Gallivan
Ternary transition metal nitrides (TMNs) promise to significantly expand the material design space by opening new functionality and enhancing existing properties. However, most systems have only been investigated computationally with limited experimental insights into microstructure or materials design. This project aims to expand understanding of TMN design through experimental fabrication and analysis of Pt-containing TMNs. The student will create TMN films with varying Pt content and use analytic techniques including XRD, SEM, and EDX analysis to identify phases, structure, and quality of films. The student will also perform annealing studies to investigate Pt exsolution in candidate nitric systems for future catalytic and photonic applications.

12. Sintered lattices with cryogel scaffolds for bone tissue engineering: Katherine Hixon
Bone defects from trauma, tumor resection, or infection make bone the second most transplanted tissue in the US. Autologous grafts are the gold standard but face limitations in tissue availability, donor site morbidity, and infection risks. Cryogel scaffolds offer a promising alternative due to biocompatibility and porosity, though they lack mechanical strength. Digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing enables precise, patient-specific lattice structures but often uses cytotoxic materials. Minerals like hydroxyapatite (HA) and wollastonite (WOL) support bone growth yet are brittle alone. This study explores a novel combustion-sintering process for DLP-printed HA-WOL lattices, combined with chitosan-gelatin cryogels, to create a composite scaffold mimicking natural bone's properties. The student will sinter HA-WOL lattices for improved strength and bioactivity, integrating them with cryogels to enhance cell performance.

13. Sintering Ice: Erland Schulson
Sintering is a process in which materials are formed from powders through the application of thermal energy. This process is thermodynamically driven by a reduction in surface energy and is kinetically governed by atomic and molecular transport occurring in both solid and gas phases. Beyond terrestrial applications, sintering is also a critical process in planetary science, influencing the behavior of planetary ices, including those in ice plumes observed on celestial bodies like Europa and Enceladus. This project focuses on studying sintering using ice particles, with measurements based on changes in global density and compressive strength. Optical microscopy and micro-computed tomography will be used to examine the microstructure of the samples after sintering.

14. From Snowflakes to Solid Ice: Understanding the mechanics of snow sintering: Colin Meyer
When fresh snow lands on the ground or the surface of a glacier, the snowflakes bond together and pile into snowdrifts. Even with cold winter temperatures, the snow crystals will change shape, and the snow drift will densify. The process underlying this transformation is sintering, whereby a fragmented material coalesces into a solid mass at a temperature below the melting point. This, for example, is how ceramic pottery solidifies in a kiln. Ice particles undergo the same sintering process, yet key questions remain: how quickly and through what mechanism does sintering occur, and how much strength does sintered ice possess? We will find answers to these questions through developing theory and analyzing experimental data, as well as formulating numerical models.

15. Designing porous ligands for heterogeneous catalysis: Miguel Gonzalez
The development of heterogeneous catalysts for sustainable chemical and fuel production has been largely limited by the lack of methods to tailor these catalysts at the molecular level. Modifying these catalysts with conventional ligands—an indispensable strategy in homogeneous catalysis—typically lowers catalyst activity due to the propensity of these ligands to block catalyst active sites. This project focuses on designing molecular cages as porous ligands that can precisely define the microenvironment around heterogeneous catalyst surfaces while maintaining access to their active sites. The student will gain training in the synthesis and characterization of supramolecular cages and will evaluate these cages as porous ligands for heterogeneous catalysis.