Joselle McCracken pursued research in Germany this past summer (2010) through a program administered by the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst/German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Ms. McCracken, currently a senior Chemistry major at TCNJ, was one of 24 students selected from 300 applicants to receive a Research Internship in Science and Engineering (ACS-RISE) scholarship that provided 
roundtrip airfare, two weeks of intensive German language instruction, and a monthly stipend during her 12-week stay in Germany. Her selection was based on her application, her academic performance, and her previous research experience in Dr. Donald Hirsh’s laboratory at TCNJ. Ms. McCracken was partnered with German Ph.D. candidate Daniel Hautzinger, in the laboratory of Kristian Müller in the Department of Biology at the University of Freiburg. Ms. McCracken’s research focused on the preparation and characterization of self-assembling DNA origami grids. The concept of DNA origami, first proposed by P.W.K. Rothemund in 2006, is that DNA can be used as a nanoscale (nanometer scale) structural building material. Ms. McCracken presented a poster of her research results at the national ACS meeting in Boston this past August. Ms. McCracken said, “With the great research, the great people, country hopping, and German bread, I don’t think this summer could have been any better!”
