Search

Last summer, 12 high school students were challenged to identify a mystery polymer. As part of a summer internship—now in its second year—they visited the chemical giant Chemours where they gained access to high-tech lab equipment rarely open to the public and were provided with relevant clues and tests to help solve the puzzle. It’s as hands on as it gets and gave this young group valuable exposure to the world of STEM.

Xavier University of Louisiana and New York University have received a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to bolster diversity among materials scientists through collaborative research and curriculum development. The award was one of eight awarded this year under NSF’s Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program and funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

NSF today announced awards for 12 Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) for multidisciplinary work that covers all areas of material science, fostering active university, national laboratory, industrial and international collaboration with integral multidisciplinary education and outreach. MRSECs receive $56 million in NSF funding.

For the first time, an experiment has directly imaged electron orbits in a high-magnetic field, illuminating an unusual collective behavior in electrons and suggesting new ways of manipulating the charged particles.  

The Center for Dynamics and Control of Materials (CDCM) at UT Austin recently launched The Materials Universe Podcast, a show where researchers discuss the impact of materials science on our lives. Listen to interviews with CDCM researchers working on cutting-edge projects in areas such as nanomaterials, biomaterials, smart materials, and more. Learn about the latest discoveries and innovations in materials science, and how they can impact fields such as energy, medicine, electronics, and beyond.

The National Science Foundation has awarded funding to eight Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) for transdisciplinary work that covers all areas of materials science and helps foster collaborations on a national and international level. These six-year awards represent a significant new investment in material science exceeding $145M.

On June 24, 2013, the White House named UW-Madison a partner institution in its Materials Genome Initiative for Global Competitiveness, a national effort to double the speed with which the country discovers, develops and manufactures new materials.

With an eye toward improving material science through increased diverse perspectives, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded six Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) awards this year, in its fifth such competition since 2004. Whether they focus on new laser treatments that may better target cancer cells, or on exploring new materials that could lead to sustainable energy alternatives, PREM awards couple the expertise of NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) with minority-serving colleges and universities to involve those students in some of the nation's preeminent materials research.

The Fashion Institute of Technology-Columbia University MRSEC collaboration AlgiKnit, run by Professor Theanne Schiros and Professor Asta Skocir (knitwear design), recently received  first-place in the Sustainable Planet category of the National Geographic CHASING GENIUS challenge.

Penn Researchers establish a universal signature that proves to be fundamental in understanding how glassy materials fail.