Northwestern Announces New Ryan Fellowships to Advance the Field of Nanotechnology

February 15, 2007

Nanotechnology, the science and technology of precisely controlling the structure of matter at the molecular level, is widely viewed as the most significant technological frontier currently being explored. Because materials and devices at the nanoscale hold vast promise for innovation in virtually every industry and public endeavor including health, electronics, transportation, the environment, and national security, nanotechnology has been heralded as the next industrial revolution. In order to realize the full benefits to society, there must be a cadre of exceptional researchers and educators who are fluent in this new field.

To meet this challenge, a new award – the Ryan Fellowship – has been created to support graduate students dedicated to the exploration of fundamental nanoscale science and to advancing this knowledge into practical applications of benefit to society.

Made possible by a generous donation from Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan, the goal of this program is to identify and support the finest graduate students in the country, and to provide them with the education and experience to assume leadership roles in academia and industry in the realm of nanotechnology.

It is estimated that ten Ryan Fellowships will be awarded each year to exceptional graduate students with the desire and the ability to pursue academic excellence in the field of nanotechnology at Northwestern University under the tutelage of some of the world’s most respected researchers.

Ryan Fellows will represent a select group of scholars who assume a leadership role in the NU graduate student community and present their accomplishments each year at the Ryan Fellows Symposium. In addition to full tuition and an annual stipend of $31,000, recipients will have opportunities to engage in collaborative research with domestic and international partners (some countries where representative partnerships are already in-place include Spain, Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Korea, Japan, and China).

Northwestern University is uniquely positioned to provide the ideal environment for graduate researchers in nanotechnology. Its history of substantial contributions to the field has made the mid-west a major hub of nanotechnology research and education. As early as 2000 and prior to the establishment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative by the U.S. Congress, Northwestern recognized the importance of the field and established the Institute for Nanotechnology in 2000. Since then, the Institute (now called the International Institute for Nanotechnology or IIN) has helped to nucleate and develop new efforts in nanoscience and nanotechnology research campus-wide, and now encompasses over $300 million in extramural funding including funding for one of the nation’s first Nanoscale Science & Engineering Centers and Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, among others.

The inherent interdisciplinarity of nanotechnology makes the Ryan Fellowships applicable to gifted students in a broad spectrum of scientific and engineering disciplines including those from the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, and the Feinberg School of Medicine.