Collaborative Research: Student & Early Career Scientist Travel Support for the 2015 First Order Reversal Curve (FORC) Magnetism Workshop

This award will provide travel support for a minimum of 25 U.S. graduate students and early career scientists to attend the 2015 First Order Reversal Curve (FORC) Workshop in Minneapolis at the University of Minnesota. First order reversal curves are elegant, nondestructive tools for characterizing the detailed magnetic behavior of carefully engineered materials as well as natural samples, and the goals of this two-day workshop are to (1) provide expert instruction on the fundamental physics that underlie this tool and (2) provide hands-on training for how to optimize the acquisition and processing of FORC data. This FORC Workshop is designed specifically for graduate students and early career researchers studying magnetism and related areas in the fields of engineering, physics, material sciences, and Earth sciences. It will consist of lectures by international experts who have helped push this technique forward and will

include poster presentations by participating graduate students. The program will cover the fundamental physics that underlie the FORC technique as well as recent developments and applications. We anticipate that the workshop will attract ~80 participants, and will be a unique opportunity for young scientists to meet leaders in their field in a relaxed and collegial atmosphere and to begin establishing a network of colleagues in the research community.

The FORC Workshop will provide training for graduate students and early career scientists to learn about a new and powerful magnetic characterization tool. Participants will learn how to optimize the collection of FORC data and gain the practical skills to process their

own data using advanced open-source software. In addition to formal lectures, each participating student will be required to present a poster about their current research. These topics will be discussed amongst the students and lecturers during poster sessions. All participants are encouraged to submit short papers to IEEE Magnetics Letters for peer-reviewed publication.