RQI Overview Dell Butcher Hall and Space Sciences Building Since 1979, the Rice Quantum Institute (RQI) has brought together a well-known collection of scientists and engineers dedicated to research and higher education in areas relating to quantum phenomena. Members of RQI study a diverse range of effects, on scales ranging from atomic dimensions to interstellar distances. The increasing sophistication of experimental and theoretical technology continues to drive research which both uses and advances our understanding of the natural world. The 45 Fellows of RQI belong to seven different departments spanning the Schools of Natural Sciences and of Engineering at Rice University, reflecting the diverse and interdisciplinary nature of their interests. The simultaneous pursuit of basic and applied research provides a valuable training ground for careers in science and technology in the new millennium. It is becoming increasingly possible to observe and manipulate systems at the nanometer scale through mechanical, chemical, and spectroscopic means. Research groups in RQI have participated in a number of such cutting-edge developments, including the discovery of fullerenes, the development of carbon nanotube and metal nanoshell technologies, the manufacture of molecular-scale electronic devices, and the Bose-Einstein condensation of ultra-cold atoms. Advanced characterization tools such as laser spectroscopy, SEM, STM, AFM, NMR, X-ray diffraction, and mass spectrometry have provided windows to the world of the ultrasmall. At the same time, the development of powerful computational algorithms in combination with fundamental theory allows the theoretical attack on increasingly complicated problems of physical interest. At Rice, theoretical research programs include electronic structure, electronic and nuclear dynamics, molecular dynamics simulations and statistical mechanics. The highly collaborative environment combined with the spectrum of innovative research has led to the formation in recent years of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (1995), the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (2001) funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as a National Science and Engineering Center, and the new Laboratory for Nanophotonics supported in part by NSF under the Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team initiative. These centers provide focussed efforts to enable nanoscience on a variety of fronts and across a number of traditional disciplines. Shared resources necessary for this research are thus constantly updated. Additionally, high school teacher outreach and interaction with technology-based startup companies are important activities of the center. RQI is currently composed of 61 faculty and approximately 270 students and postdocs. The members come from two different schools within Rice, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the George R. Brown School of Engineering. Two departments fall within the first school, and five within the second. To the collaborators within RQI, this division is almost non-existent and a great deal of interaction occurs between disciplines. Some faculty have joint appointments in different departments and/or schools. The distribution of RQI Fellows as of September, 2000, is illustrated in the figure below. Half-circles represent half of a dual appointment. 
|