In partnership with the University of Texas, Arlington (UTA). NU-MRSEC receives NSF funding from the Partnership  for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program to expand participation and access to materials science-focused facilities, education, training, and careers.   Since 2004, the NSF PREM program has broadened access to materials science-focused skills and opportunities by supporting strategic partnerships between minority-serving institutions and NSF-funded research centers and facilities at research-intensive institutions.  Partnership for Research and Education in Functional Materials at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and Grambling State University (GSU), in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Northwestern University (NU-MRSEC), establishes an undergraduate-to-graduate materials research pathway with postdoc opportunities and career placement for students at UTA, a Hispanic-serving institution and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution and GSU, a historically Black university. Research focus: novel polymeric biomaterials and bioinspired materials used for drug delivery and tissue repair with biomedical applications.