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Master in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Nanoscience and nanotechnology examine the science and technological capabilities of materials and devices on the sub‑100‑nanometre scale.

FUNDING: Up to $47,000 over two years.

Why do research in nano?

Objects at the nanoscale are small enough that they have a lot more surface, relative to their volume, than macroscopic objects. At this scale we can start to see some hints of quantum mechanical effects.

While small in terms of size, objects at the nanoscale are still huge as compared to atoms scales (a single nano-object may be made by hundreds of thousands of atoms), so their behaviour is not necessarily dominated by quantum mechanics.

Even well-known materials behave differently at the nanoscale. Understanding behaviours at the nanoscale, and how to turn those into useful devices, is an interesting and rewarding challenge.

The nanotechnology industry represents a wide and valuable market. A few examples of potential topics include quantum materials, nanoconstructs for medical applications, chemical nanoengineering, nanomechanical systems, smart thin-films and biological circuits.

Who can apply?

The Master in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology is for students who appreciate a challenge and want to learn more about both science and technology. Students applying to the program should have a background in either science or engineering.  

Program goal

Besides the specialized knowledge you will acquire while working in your project (which can vary widely depending on the project!), you will learn how to bridge the science and engineering cultures, and how to interact with both scientists and engineers.

Find your supervisor

We have a list of potential supervisors. We recommend you explore/review their research and contact them to discuss possibilities.

Science

Engineering

Sample research projects

Some sample projects are listed here. Contact the professors directly to get the most up-to-date list of projects.

Growing environmental concerns coupled with the ever-increasing need for energy to power our planet have caused a surge in energy storage and conversion research. While remarkable progress has been achieved, many challenges persist and include efficiency, stability and longevity of the materials and devices. 

Nanomaterials and nanotechnology, with exceptional and versatile physico-chemical and optical properties can address these challenges but require novel advances in nanomaterial synthesis, catalyst design, interface design in batteries, and advanced characterization for battery materials.

This project will target the synthesis and design of carbon-dot based hybrid nanomaterials for the development of high-energy and long-lasting lithium metal-based batteries. The work will focus on nanosystems with high absorption function and high electronic conductivity for battery materials that could effectively suppress active material dissolution. Battery assembly and performance evaluation will also be central to this project.

Supervisors

Quantum dots are excellent nanoscale light emitters, with a broad gain bandwidth and a good tolerance to temperature variations. When placed into an optical cavity capable of confining light tightly, they can result in lasers with very good performance.

Topological arrays of photonic elements provide a novel physical mechanism to create distributed optical confinement, which is robust against fabrication errors and allows for larger design tolerances. 

The goal of this project is to use computer simulations to characterize quantum dot lasers using topological confinement in geometries amenable for fabrication. The student working on this project will learn how to perform computer simulations of photonic systems, the basics of topological photonics, and how to properly characterize the performance of a quantum dot laser.

Supervisors

As climate change becomes an ever more rapidly advancing global problem, it becomes more and more crucial that the world turns to renewable energy solutions and ways to decrease carbon emissions. Some carbon emissions are hard to avoid so carbon capture, utilization, and storage will be needed in some cases. Carbonic anhydrase is category of enzyme that catalyzes the hydration and reverse hydration of carbon dioxide, meaning that it has the potential to significantly enhance the capture of carbon dioxide in aqueous solutions. 

The difficulty with the use of carbonic anhydrase is that, like many other enzymes, it is easily denatured, particularly in the rather harsh environments of industrial applications. A fairly extensive body of work in recent years has therefore been dedicated to improving its stability in terms of half-life, extreme temperatures, and high salt concentrations, often through the use of computational techniques to identify key residues for mutation or to assess the stability resulting from chimeric mutants.

We plan to use a combination of molecular dynamics and active learning techniques in conjunction with experiment to identify and rapidly explore a reasonable search space for carbonic anhydrase design to increase stability with respect to extreme pH environments. By trading off between exploration and exploitation of a continuous search space, we will identify those points of greatest uncertainty and greatest potential reward and assess them using molecular dynamics and experiment, cutting down on the time needed to assess mutations that are likely to be unfavorable. Overall, this project has the possibility of improving techniques for commercialization of renewable energy sources.

Supervisors

The lifetime of numerous components within a gas turbine engine is limited by the tribological performance of the employed materials and coatings due to the large number of complex contacting and moving mechanical assemblies in the engine. Materials capable of operating efficiently under these conditions will help overcome many of the aerospace challenges ranging from improving durability of the aircraft and premature failure of the components to developing novel gas turbine engines. In addition, the development and implementation of wear resistant materials in moving mechanical assemblies will reduce the number of parts that need to be constantly repaired and consequently reduce the overhaul cost.

The main objective of this project is to critically evaluate the nano-scale interfacial processes in tribological systems within gas turbine engines (wear, friction, lubrication). To that end, novel experimental methodologies will be developed and combined with molecular dynamics simulations to investigate selected systems (e.g. cobalt, nickel and chromium – based systems) under extreme conditions. The atomistic insights gained will provide a better understanding of the interfacial phenomena, which will be used to develop next generation aerospace materials capable of operating effectively in harsh environments.

Supervisors

Application process

The Master in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary, research-based graduate program at the master's level. Application requires a Statement of Purpose that mentions:

  • the Master in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology program
  • the selected research project and associated supervisors

Apply to your primary supervisor's department. The MSc in Nanoscience Program Committee will evaluate the application and notify you of the decision. If your application is rejected, you may still be considered for admission to the home department.

Program co-chairs

  • Pablo Bianucci, PhD – Physics
  • Pantcho P. Stoyanov, PhD – Chemical and Materials Engineering

Program committee members

  • Ingo Salzmann, PhD – Physics and Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Rafik Naccache, PhD – Chemistry and Biochemistry
  • Rolf Wuthrich, PhD – Mechanical Engineering
  • Mojtaba Kahrizi, PhD – Electrical and Computer Engineering

Funding opportunities

The Faculty of Arts and Science Graduate Studies is pleased to announce Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Master of Science Funding Opportunities for the 2024-2025 academic year.

This funding is geared towards top graduate students who wish to pursue innovative Nanoscience and Nanotechnology research under Faculty of Arts and Science.

The support is valued at $47,000 over two years of full-time studies.

Funding Criteria

  • Candidates must be commencing the MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology program under the Faculty of Arts and Science in Fall 2024 or Winter 2025.
  • Candidates’ home department must fall under Chemistry and Biochemistry or Physics.
  • Candidates must remain in good academic standing and continue to have a full-time registration status in the MSc in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology program.
  • Candidates are to express their interest in applying for funding by emailing program co-chair Pablo Bianucci at nano@concordia.ca after they have applied to the program.
  • Only selected candidates will be notified.

 

Once you have submitted your online application, please complete the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology supplementary application information form and include your 8-digit student ID number.

 

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