Grants and Guidelines

Research Exchanges

The Research Exchange grants are available to support living expenses for graduate students, post-docs and faculty engaged in international glass research exchanges. The awards are based on the proposal's relevance to enhancing new functionality in glass. New and promising international collaborations are especially encouraged and desired. The duration of the visit should be sufficient to provide meaningful exchange and foster future collaboration, nominally a semester (2-5 months).

For US applicants both travel and living expenses are available for the international exchange. For foreign visitors to the US, the travel and living expenses are generally* provided by the sending institution. For researchers from certain developing countries some support may be available for housing.

The research exchange should be viewed as a partnership between the two exchanging organizations both of which share responsibility for the quality of the project and the qualifications of the applicant. The IMI will expect that the principal investigators on both sides of the partnership have adequately assessed the qualifications of any graduate students or post docs involved in the exchange. The IMI will award based on the quality of the proposal, it’s relevance to new functionality and it’s potential to generate new interactions. Application for this grant should be submitted by the person who intends to travel, i.e. the person who will be receiving the funds. To apply the applicant must submit a Proposal for International Research Exchange Collaboration form including a brief proposal along with letter of commitment from the hosting investigator.

* While generally the sending institution pays the travel expenses for foreign visitors, some travel support may be available for visitors from countries with limited resources. NSF guidelines for International support will apply.

International Conference Travel Scholarship

The International Conference Travel Scholarship is a grant opportunity of IMI-NFG open to undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral researchers at US universities. Its goal is to help young scientists develop into future leaders of research on glass and other materials. Through participation at International Conferences, the Institute hopes to draw attention to the research results generated in USA , and in turn help build new international collaborations with US teams. The key criterion for scholarship award is how well the paper contributes to a new functionality of glass.

Qualifications and Stipulations:

1. The student/postdoc applicant will be presenting a paper or poster at an international conference abroad. (Scholarship not applicable to International Conferences being held within the US)
2. The presentation will contribute to a new functionality of glass (see the list of functionalities at www.lehigh.edu/imi), as indicated in the conference abstract (to be submitted with the application).
3. The scholarship shall reimburse 50% of total conference related travel expenses, with a maximum of $1000 (may include airfare on a US carrier, reasonable living expenses, and registration fee, if any).
4. The applicant will acknowledge IMI-NFG scholarship (NSF Grant DMR-0409588) in publications based on his/her presentation. Application forms are available online.

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Glass

The purpose of the Glass REU program is to introduce US undergraduate students to the opportunities in glass research through active involvement at a world class glass research facility, either in the US or international. These grants will include support for travel and housing at a 10 week summer research experience as well as a stipend of $430 per week for a 10-week program . The student’s faculty advisor should assist the student in becoming familiar with the possible opportunities in glass research that would be appropriate for the students interests and aptitudes. A letter of recommendation from the faculty will be required and pre-arranged research placement suggestions are strongly encouraged. Regular semester REUs are also available at Lehigh and PSU.

Qualifications: The program is open to students pursuing majors in science and engineering. A minimum GPA of 3.5 is recommended, but not an absolute requirement. Laboratory, computer and other related experience will certainly be considered. Participants will be selected on the basis of academic merits, faculty reference(s) and suitability to the hosting program. Women, minorities and persons with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply. The program is open to US students, either citizens or permanent residents. For international exchanges, students are responsible for their own passport, visa and any other required travel documents or immunizations.

Application for the summer undergraduate research program is made by the student by submitting a Glass Research Experiences for Undergraduates application form together with a college transcript and a letter of recommendation from the faculty advisor.

More information is available.

Senior Faculty Sabbatical Leave

Each year the institute will provide support for 2 senior faculty or researchers from overseas to spend sabbatical leave at Lehigh and Penn State Universities. They will collaborate with the PIs and or other faculty at these institutions, and teach at least one advanced course on glass science or engineering. Individuals interested in this remaining position should submit letter of interest along with details on possible collaborations and the advanced course(s) they would like to present.