The National Science Foundation has awarded a Concordia College professor a second grant within a year to support research on iron oxides. The $178,000 grant will also promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM fields.
“I am beyond excited about the award,” said Dr. Thelma Berquó, associate professor of physics and principal investigator for the grant. “Not only will I be able to advance my research, but this grant will also offer new opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds in STEM.”
Berquó studies the fundamental magnetic properties of iron oxides, which have important technological, medical, and environmental applications. Berquó said more data will give scientists a deeper understanding of the world around us.
Berquó studies the fundamental magnetic properties of iron oxides, which have important technological, medical, and environmental applications. Berquó said more data will give scientists a deeper understanding of the world around us. 
This new grant will be used to pay for specialized data collection such as TEM (transmission electron microscopy) images, and a new Mössbauer radioactive source. The funds will also support Berquó’s research by providing supplies and stipends for her and three undergraduate assistants per year for three years. Priority will be given to underrepresented minorities in STEM and/or a first-generation college student.
“Diversity in STEM is important because, when we have a group of people together with diverse experiences and backgrounds, it promotes a more productive, and creative environment that contributes to critical thinking and problem-solving that are required when studying complex problems.”
In addition, grant money will be used to pay for research publication costs, and travel, both for Berquó and her students, to national scientific conferences.
“Conferences are an important way for students to continue to be engaged with the STEM community and also share the results they get during their research experiences,” Berquó said.
In August 2022, the NSF awarded her, as the principal investigator, a $303,000 grant to purchase a VersaLab Physical Properties Measurement System, a cryogenic instrument with a superconducting magnet that can measure electrical, magnetic, and thermal properties of materials over a broad temperature range, 50 to 1000 Kelvin (Dr. James Lee was a co-Pi in that grant).
The NSF, which funds research conducted at U.S. colleges and universities, is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense.”