The central component of the educational program is the extended research visits (XRVs) by UCSB graduate students in science and engineering to China, where they work on collaborative research projects co-mentored by UCSB and DICP and CAS faculty. In the first year of the PIRE-ECCI, three students participated in 3-4 month-long XRVs; since then, four more students have traveled to China to conduct their XRV. Students are involved in research at the most prominent and best-equipped research institutes in China. They will gain hands-on experience with top-notch technology and instrumentation that is not available on the UCSB campus, including many in situ and transient surface characterization techniques such as UV-Raman spectroscopy, PEEM, inelastic and reactive scattering using Rydberg-tagging time-of-flight methods, photoemission electron microscopy, high P/T solid-state NMR and advanced modeling and simulation.
The Extended Research Visits obviously contribute greatly to the technical training of our student participants. Just as importantly, we believe their interpersonal experiences indelibly mark them by expanding their horizons with a more global and culturally sensitive outlook. For most of the participants, the XRV is their first extended stay outside of the US in an employment-related setting (which is distinct from the culturally artificial setting of a vacation). They need to learn to work with colleagues from a very different culture. Probably for the first time, they are "cultural outsiders", an experience that leads them to relate to foreign visitors to the US with greater sensitivity. The program challenges each of them, in an uncompromising way, to bridge vast cultural and language barriers. In rising to this challenge, they become more flexible and resilient people, as well as more highly trained researchers.
A web page of our PIRE-ECCI students who have already or currently are conducting their XRV in China can be viewed HERE. See pictures and read about some of their experiences, both scientific and cultural, while researching in China's top research institutes.
Reciprocal
Exchange Program: XRVs for Chinese Ph.D. students and
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