Neutron Science Education Programs and Videos

Graduate Programs

Neutron Science educational outreach programs seek to promote the building of strong partnerships between neutron sciences at ORNL and the higher education sector. A major focus has been on the development of cyber-enabled collaborative graduate courses with participation from multiple university and institution partners. This outreach activity aims at facilitating education and development of the most immediate and relevant target group for future neutron scattering users: graduate students. ORNL acts as an impartial facilitator to bring together the most prominent professors and researchers in the different areas of neutron science to educate the physically-disperse community of interested graduate students. Consistent with the above goals, NScD has also been a major contributor and has partnered with other universities and institutions to organize educational outreach workshops and summer schools in neutron scattering for graduate students around the nation.

Neutron Lifecycle Lecture Series

The Neutron Lifecycle Lecture Series aims at exposing the diversity of scientific and engineering challenges associated with the SNS and HFIR neutron scattering facilities. The lectures follow neutrons from their release by nuclei to their interaction with samples and detectors to their ultimate fate as a colorful pixel in a scientific publication. The lectures cover original technical topics of broad interest for research and technical staff at all levels from undergraduate student to division head. These lectures are inspired by Neutrons from Cradle to Grave, a lecture series held at the ILL in 2010 to broaden the “neutron culture” of its graduate students. Talks are approximately 25-35 min per speaker with questions from the audience.

View the Course Videos and Materials

Neutrons in Soft Matter Science: Complex Materials on Mesoscopic Scales

The new cyber-enabled collaborative graduate course "Neutrons in Soft Matter Science: Complex Materials on Mesoscopic Scales" launches in fall semester of 2013. It addresses a wide range of topics in neutron scattering for soft matter physics and materials science. Also covered in part are complementary light and X-Ray scattering approaches to the study of soft matter. With contributed lectures from a teaching team across sixteen major universities/institutions, the course will provide a unique and seminal introduction to this field. Access to the course lectures can be enjoyed through live interactive sessions using the Adobe Connect platform, or alternatively via session recordings that are streamed subsequently from this site.

Course Outline and Syllabus

Course Material

Neutron Scattering in Quantum Condensed Matter Physics

The first cyber enabled collaborative graduate course was launched in Fall semester 2012. It addresses the topic of neutron scattering in quantum condensed matter physics with contributions from ORNL scientists and prominent professors from Johns Hopkins University, MIT, University of Indiana, University of Virginia, University of California, San Diego and the University of Tennessee. The course has been a great success and attracted more than 150 registrants worldwide. Registration remains open and recorded lectures are available online even though the live-transmitted lectures finished in early December 2012.