NSF Award
2117494
An award is made to Loyola University Chicago (LUC) to purchase a Transmission Electron<br/>Microscope (TEM) in support of research, teaching, and outreach. This equipment will be used<br/>by LUC researchers as well as graduate and undergraduate students in STEM fields. Through<br/>didactic courses and research mentorship, over 100 LUC undergraduate students will gain<br/>valuable training on this machine annually. Two undergraduate courses at LUC will utilize the<br/>TEM as will two courses at neighboring undergraduate institutions. The TEM will have the<br/>greatest impact on high school students engaged in summer research at LUC. Each year, LUC<br/>investigators host 40+ aspiring scientists from Chicago area high schools. This high school<br/>research experience will include training and hands-on exploration using the TEM. Thus, the<br/>TEM will promote student training both at LUC and beyond.<br/><br/>This TEM enhances research at all levels. It enables imaging, sizing, and elemental mapping of<br/>samples for a diverse ensemble of scientific fields ranging from biology to materials chemistry to<br/>environmental sustainability. Representative examples include imaging of bacteriophages, the<br/>cellular structural stability of malaria parasites, microscopic structures of lizard scales, bacterial<br/>biofilm formation, cartilage and bone formation in fish embryos, and peripheral nervous system<br/>structure. Furthermore, this machine can examine the chemistry that occurs at the surface of<br/>prototypical small molecule organic semiconductors as well as element-specific measurements<br/>of metal accumulation in living tissue. Thus, the TEM instrument will stimulate the productivity of<br/>the existing research projects as well as train the next generation of scientists.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
