WESTERVILLE, OH: The American Ceramic Society (ACerS) is pleased to announce that five outstanding students have been selected as recipients of a prestigious PACK Fellowship. The students are: Daniel Fortino (Penn State University), Jack Hayden (Penn State University), George Kotsonis (Penn State University), Alexei Matyushov (Northeastern University), and Ryan Thackston (University of Houston).
The PACK Fellowship, a collaboration between ACerS, The Pennsylvania State University, and Kiel University in Germany, is made possible through a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for a three-year International Research Experience (IRES). The IRES program supports international research and research-related activities for U.S. science and engineering students and contributes to the development of a diverse, globally-engaged workforce with world-class skills.
As a PACK Fellow, students will have the unique opportunity to conduct research at Kiel University for a semester. The program provides exposure to broad research areas including magnetoelectric composites, biomagnetic sensing, functional brain imaging, magnetic materials, medical signal processing, neuromorphic devices, and related fields.
The Fellowship provides support for travel, lab fees, and boarding. In addition to research, students will have opportunities for participation in peer-to-peer knowledge transfer activities, interdisciplinary seminars, and regularly scheduled retreats. Fellows receive exposure to entrepreneurship training, participate in professional development activities as they interact with researchers from Penn State, and attend annual meetings of ACerS and Energy Harvesting Society.
ACerS is administering the program, managing the student selection process, overseeing the international network formation and collaboration, and managing sustainability of the PACK Fellowship. Kiel University is providing a dedicated infrastructure with specialized equipment, which provides a tremendous opportunity for U.S. students and faculty to build a partnership with an excellent cluster of scientists and engineers throughout Europe. Penn State’s Global Programs organizes and oversees the travel logistics for the students to conduct research activities at Kiel University. Additionally, a substantial number of German students will be visiting U.S. universities, funded and organized through Kiel University.
Applications are now being accepted for the next cohort of students; the deadline is December 6, 2019. An application and additional information are available at the PACK Fellowship website: http://packfellowship.com.
For more information, contact Belinda Raines at braines@ceramics.org or 614-794-5825.