Consortium
of the Americas earn NSF grant
By Steve
Carr
The
Consortium of the Americas for Interdisciplinary Science at
UNM, directed by Nitant Kenkre, professor of Physics and Astronomy,
has been awarded a three-year grant in excess of $1 million
by the National Science Foundation.
The consortium
is charged with facilitating international collaboration between
scientists in the United States and Latin America who will perform
high caliber research in interdisciplinary science with linkage
to education.
The
twin goals of the consortium, interdisciplinary science research
and international collaborations, are important and timely,
said Kenkre. The recognition given to this UNM initiative
by the NSF is significant. It will help support the exciting
research programs launched by the consortium in mathematical
biology, complex systems, nanoscience and novel materials.
This
is the first international science center supported by the NSF,
which regards this funding as a pilot activity on which to base
further international science efforts.
It
is an honor for UNM to receive this NSF grant, said Bernd
Bassalleck, chair, physics and astronomy. Professor Kenkres
untiring efforts to bridge across disciplines and countries
in pursuit of science are appreciated within the university
as well as outside.
Kenkre
is an elected fellow of the American Physical Society and scientist
of international reputation whose research spans broad areas
of theoretical physics. He introduced several years ago the
idea of the consortium to the UNM administration, which supported
it at all levels, in particular the Office of the Dean of Arts
and Sciences and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.
More recently,
the Provosts office has recognized the overlap of consortium
activities with UNMs newly forming New Mexico Circle on
Sovereignty and Sustainability and has lent the consortium strong
support.
Of the
external agencies that provided funding, the most important
initially was the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which gave
UNM $480,000 in a three-year contract for Kenkres consortium
research. Many LANL scientists have collaborated under its auspices.
Los Alamos National Laboratory has played a major role
in supporting the consortium scientifically as well as financially,
said Kenkre.
Activities
supported by the NSF grant will include trimester plans of interdisciplinary
projects, visits of Latin American scientists to New Mexico,
international conferences, mini-workshops and lecture courses
on interdisciplinary topics at UNM. They will also involve international
student exchanges. Consortium activities are conceived, planned
and implemented by Kenkre with input provided by an external
advisory panel of internationally renowned and distinguished
scientists and an internal advisory committee comprised of UNM
faculty.
Since its
inception less than three years ago, the consortium has organized
18 workshops at UNM and in Latin America, and hosted more than
30 Latin American scientists at all levels from graduate students
to distinguished professors.
The
visits have also led to collaborations among the Latin American
scientists themselves. The collaborations start at UNM and have
continued after the scientists returned to their own countries,
said Kenkre.
He says
that three factors make the consortium unique: the willingness
of UNM (consistent with its Strategic Plan) to play host to
a collaborative enterprise involving Latin American science,
the Latin flavor of the State of New Mexico, unique among states,
and current excitement and potential associated with the focus
topics in interdisciplinary science.
For more
information visit the consortium website at: http://panda.unm.edu/consort/consortium.html.