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The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Northwestern University supports interactive research in five interdisciplinary groups. The unifying theme of the research is the design and characterization of structured materials with unique properties for potential technological applications. One group investigates electroactive and magnetoactive molecular materials by designing molecular materials for specific electroresponsive or magnetoresponsive properties. A second group studies narrow bandgap strained-layer semiconductor materials and focuses on the synthesis, stability, and properties of these materials. Strain and/or ordering is used to tailor the band structure, and hence the optical properties. This work has high potential impact on the area of room temperature infrared lasers and improved infrared detectors. Other applications include optical communications and optical computers which take advantage of the highly non-linear optical constants of these materials. A third group investigates optically functional polymers and molecular assemblies, bringing to bear a combination of synthesis, materials characterization, and theoretical approaches on problems of fundamental and applied significance in the area of polymers with optical nonlinearities. A fourth group studies ultrahard coatings with the goal of stabilizing and/or nucleating normally unstable phases, specifically certain nitrides, epitaxially on carefully chosen substrates. A fifth group working on functional electroceramic thin films will synthesize and characterize thin ceramic films for advanced dielectric and nonlinear optical applications and will extend the deposition and characterization techniques to novel transparent conducting oxides. The MRSEC supports the development, operation and maintenance of shared experimental facilities for materials research. It provides seed funding for exploratory research and fosters research participation by unde rgraduates. The Center supports an educational outreach program aimed at pre-college science education through development of the Materials World Modules, and a program featuring research experiences for science teachers. The Center also administers an industrial outreach program. The Center currently supports 35 senior investigators, 5 postdoctoral research associates, 7 technicians or other professionals, 34 graduate students, and 16 undergraduates. The MRSEC is directed by Professor R.P.H. Chang. %%% The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Northwestern University supports interactive research in five interdisciplinary groups. The unifying theme of the research is the design and characterization of structured materials with unique properties for potential technological applications. One group investigates electroactive and magnetoactive molecular materials. A second group studies narrow bandgap strained-layer semiconductor materials. This work has high potential impact on the area of room temperature infrared lasers and improved infrared detectors. Other applications include optical communications and optical computers which take advantage of the highly non-linear optical constants of these materials. A third group investigates optically functional polymers and molecular assemblies, while a fourth group studies ultrahard, specifically certain nitrides. A fifth group working on functional electroceramic thin films will synthesize and characterize thin ceramic films for advanced dielectric and nonlinear optical applications. The MRSEC supports the development, operation and maintenance of shared experimental facilities for materials research. It provides seed funding for exploratory research and fosters research participation by undergraduates. The Center supports an educational outreach program aimed at pre-college science education through development of the Materials World Modules, and a program featuring research experie nces for science teachers. The Center also administers an industrial outreach program.

In IRG2, we are establishing the field of photo-ionics, in which electronically-mediated light-ion interactions control defect populations and macroscopic fluxes of defects and ions.

The mission of the Illinois MRSEC is to (i) perform fundamental, innovative research, broadly centered on understanding the dynamic properties of materials, and (ii) support interdisciplinary education and training of students in materials design, understanding, and application.

The science of the Center seeks to form the basis for new technologies in electronics, information storage, photonics, and biomaterials that will greatly benefit society. The Illinois MRSEC leverages synergies such as: shared facilities (based in the Illinois Materials Research Lab) and resources (e.g., computation supported by NCSA/Blue Waters); the development of cutting-edge materials synthesis and characterization tools; an intellectual focus on new dynamical regimes of materials; enhanced integration of education and outreach with world-class research; a focus on improving scientific communication; and increased diversity leading to more creative and productive research.

The development of all-epitaxial metal/semiconductor nanocomposite systems by MBE (molecular beam epitaxy)-growth represents a novel and unique approach to the fabrication of precisely defined nanoscopic architectures that cannot be produced using conventional techniques. Such an approach will open up an entirely new class of materials with enormous implications for electronic devices that have the potential for new and improved performance/properties when compared to previous semiconductor technologies, thus providing materials science challenges well into the next decade.

The Northwestern University MRSEC supports innovative research and education emphasizing fundamental materials science and engineering issues that have potential benefits to society. This research effort shares the theme of "Multifunctional Nanoscale Material Structures," that involve materials synthesis, processing, characterization, theory and modeling. In addition to educating a diverse group of graduate students, the Northwestern MRSEC offers programs that prepare coming generations to better understand the world around them. High school students are introduced to inquiry-based materials science through the Center-developed Materials World Modules program. This MRSEC educates several dozen undergraduates and high school teachers annually in summer research programs. The Northwestern MRSEC has collaborative international research programs and has established the first program between a MRSEC and an internationally renowned art museum; via the Art Institute of Chicago-Northwestern University Program in Conservation Science, the MRSEC contributes to an understanding of the materials science aspects of our cultural heritage

The MRSEC consists of the following Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs): IRG #1 Synergistic Linear and Nonlinear Phenomena in Multifunctional Oxide Ceramic Systems - that studies and exploits the unique attributes of oxide materials that result simultaneously in two or more functionalities (electronic, photonic, and magnetic). IRG #2 Novel Processing Routes to Nanostructured Polymer Blends and Nanocomposites - that studies and exploits the roles of non-equilibrium mechanical forces and equilibrium thermodynamics on the nanoscale structure and macroscale properties of polymer blends and composites resulting from gradient copolymerization, thermoreversible gelcasting, and solid-state shear pulverization. IRG #3 Plasmonics and Molecular Based Electronics: Fundamentals and New Tools - that studies nanoparticles that act as plasmonic switches and develops nanoscale optical characterization tools for investigating conductor-molecule-conductor junctions that lie at the heart of molecule based electronics

This NSF MRSEC supports a broad interdisciplinary research program that investigates the mechanical properties of crystalline and glassy materials at scales intermediate between atomistic and continuum, focuses on and exploits microfluidics to develop novel materials, and explores innovative ways to make stimuli-responsive active materials by self-assembly of soft materials. The MRSEC operates a broad education and outreach research program that includes summer research experiences for undergraduates and teachers, activities for K-12 students, and programs to enhance the participation of members of underrepresented groups in science and engineering at the graduate, postgraduate level, and faculty levels. 

The LRSM at UPENN is a center of excellence for materials research and education. It facilitates collaboration between researchers from different disciplines including physics, chemistry, engineering, and biology to advance transformative scientific projects and solve societal challenges.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Columbia University investigates ways of forming films containing complex metal oxide nanoparticles and the properties of these films through an interdisciplinary and collaborative effort. The Center is composed of a single interdisciplinary research group (IRG). The focus of the IRG research is the materials chemistry of oxide nanoparticle systems, and includes nanoparticle synthesis, assembly, and diagnostics. The Columbia MRSEC links thirteen faculty members from five departments on campus with other faculty at City College of New York, and with fourteen collaborators in industry and at national laboratories. The MRSEC maintains shared experimental facilities that meet the needs of the Center research and serve for the training of students. Education outreach efforts of the MRSEC include a summer research experience for undergraduates and for high school teachers, and an extensive visitation program to high and middle schools in New York City that brings materials demonstrations to teachers and students.

Participants in the Center currently include 13 senior investigators, 3 postdoctoral associates, 8 graduate students, 10 undergraduate students and 1 support personnel. Professor Irving P. Herman directs the MRSEC.

Transformative advances occur when new types of material organization and behavior are conceived, created, and controlled. The Penn State Center for Nanoscale Science creates four interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) to meet this goal. The IRG1 team predicts, synthesizes and develops layered materials that couple together electrical, magnetic and mechanical properties in new ways with potential application in cell phones, high-power electronic devices, nonvolatile memory, ultrasound, and precision actuation. In IRG2, self-powered active materials are developed to sense and react to the environment through their collective behavior, capturing key elements of biological behavior in abiotic systems with potential application in biomedicine, diagnostics and sensors, and autonomous materials repair. IRG3 is pioneering the development of electronic metalattices, systems that organize materials in three dimensions on a few-nanometer length scale through innovative high-pressure synthesis, with unique electronic, optical, magnetic and thermal properties. In IRG4, light is used to modulate the controlled, reconfigurable assembly of diverse arrays of nanoparticles purposefully designed to harbor unique collective electronic and optical properties for new types of optical devices and bioinspired sensing. This cohesive culture of shared science is then extended to educate and inspire future scientists and members of the public, bring advances to market through industrial outreach, and reach the wider community through international collaboration and facilities networks. Hands-on materials-oriented kits, smartphone apps, summer science camps, and programs to support students from diverse backgrounds reach thousands of students each year. Researchers at all career stages will be instilled with a native expectation that materials research naturally reaches across disciplines and is open to individuals with diverse backgrounds.