The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Maryland addresses fundamental problems connected with the dynamics of ferroelectrics and of surface nanostructures, and with the properties of highly spin polarized magnetic oxides. The MRSEC supports an effective pre-college education outreach effort that includes summer science programs for middle school girls and hands-on math and science student programs. The Center has intensive activities for knowledge transfer to a large number of industrial and federal laboratories. The MRSEC also supports promising new projects through seed funding, and develops and maintains shared experimental facilities.

Research in the proposed Center is organized into three Interdisciplinary research Groups (IRG). IRG 1, Polarization Dynamics in Ferroelectric Thin Films, addresses key materials issues that will allow to control and optimize the time-dependent behavior of thin film ferroelectrics, and that currently limit their applicability to computer memories, sensors and actuators. IRG 2, Surface Nanostructures: From Fluctuations to Driven Systems, builds upon powerful experimental and theoretical tools developed by this group of investigators to predict the surface structural evolution of films under various processing conditions, including chemical vapor deposition growth and electromigration. IRG 3, Metal Oxides with High Spin Polarization, focuses on issues limiting development of metallic oxides with high spin polarization that can be utilized in magnetic devices, including 'spintronics' and magnetic sensors.