A New Type of Partnership for Science Outreach: Princeton Center for Complex Materials, Strange Matter and the Liberty S
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A New Type of Partnership for Science Outreach: Princeton Center for Complex Materials, Strange Matter and the Liberty Science Center Daniel Steinberg, Ph.D. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540
Abstract All National Science Foundation funded MRSEC centers have education, outreach and community service as one of their major objectives. The Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) takes this commitment very seriously. PCCM runs a full slate of education activities including a host of Pre-college science and engineering programs and a research experience for undergraduates and teachers program each summer. Our outreach programs are designed to increase awareness, appreciation and knowledge of materials science. Liberty Science Center (LSC) in Jersey City, New Jersey and the Strange Matter traveling exhibit allowed PCCM to expand its outreach program to include tens of thousands of family audience members. LSC gets 1000’s of visitors each weekend, and has expertise in communicating with this audience. Princeton University scientists have expertise in materials science. This partnership required coordination between the LSC staff and the PCCM outreach director in facilitating the training and presentations by faculty and other scientists from Princeton. Together we developed a program that sent over 30 scientists from Princeton University to the liberty science center to offer their enthusiasm for material science to the public. Scientists can reach a much larger audience at a science center than at their home institutions. This can be repeated anywhere in the country where there are science centers is and university research centers willing to work together. Introduction Since 1994, the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) has fulfilled multiple missions. PCCM is an NSF-funded Materials Science and Research Center (MRSEC) at Princeton University, dedicated to pushing the frontiers of complexity in materials science. PCCM brings together over thirty faculty from six departments in the natural sciences and engineering. PCCM currently has three Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) and several seed projects. In addition to its research it has a large range of facilities including its Imaging Analysis Center. Equally important in PCCM’s mission is its commitment to education and outreach.(http://www.princeton.edu/~pccm/outreach/outreach.htm ) PCCM has a wide range of outreach programs that include working with local schools and with undergraduates from around the country. In spite of a very full and active outreach program that incorporates our faculty, post docs, graduates and undergraduates in all the activities, we are always looking to improve. A unique opportunity arose in 2004 to form a partnership with the Liberty Science Center. The Liberty Science Center
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is in Jersey City, New Jersey located just across the river from Manhattan. LSC receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. LSC was the first science center in United States to get the new traveling exhibit call
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