TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- University of Alabama graduate student Will Adams of St. Stephens recently traveled to The University of Western Australia in Perth to participate in the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute program (EASPI).

At UA, Adams has worked under the direction of Dr. Martin Bakker, associate professor of chemistry.

The program, which was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), enabled Adams to spend two months at the school while performing photovoltaic studies on mesoporous materials. Adams worked with Dr. Terry Quickenden and three other U.S. graduate students. Twenty American students in all made the trip to various areas in Australia as part of the program.

NSF supported 150 students in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Australia as they conducted research with foreign counterparts in fields such as cancer research, humanoid robotics, computational neuroscience and nanofabrication. Students also gained valuable first-hand knowledge of the research infrastructure and science policies of their international partners.

According to Larry Weber, manager of the EASPI program, this year’s contingent marked the largest group of U.S. graduate student participants in the program's 14-year history.

The summer institute lasted approximately eight weeks from June to August. Each EAPSI student received an international round-trip air ticket and a stipend of $3,000. Sponsoring organizations in these East Asia and the Pacific communities supported students' local living expenses.