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NSF invites eligible organizations to submit research proposals that inform, create, implement, and evaluate models of intervention that will advance the knowledge base for establishing and retaining underrepresented minorities in STEM fields with particular attention to life science and the biosciences. 

Scientists across North Carolina will now be able to probe the mysteries of very tiny particles, polymers, and surfaces for applications ranging from biomedicine to polymer science. Thanks to an $850,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), a consortium of universities – Duke, North Carolina State and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill – has created the Triangle Small Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS) facility at Duke.

A few years ago, Sammy Tin, a professor of materials engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology reached out to Northwestern University with a specific request. Tin was studying advanced polycrystalline nickel-base superalloys and needed access to Northwestern University's state-of-the-art equipment at its Center for Atom-Probe Tomography. Northwestern University is part of NSF's Materials Research Facilities Network (MRFN) -- a nationwide partnership designed to enhance access to the latest equipment and expertise in the materials research and engineering field. As part of his research, Tin collaborated with researchers in China as well as others in the U.S., and the team published their findings last year.

A team of Penn State researchers has shown for the first time that the entire class of "non-magnetic" materials, such as those used in some computer components, could have considerably more uses than scientists had thought. The findings are important because they reveal previously unknown information about the structure of these materials, expanding the number of properties that they potentially could have. A material's properties, such as electrical conductivity and mechanical strength, are what determine its usefulness.

At the recent American Physical Society (APS) March meeting in Los Angeles, more than 100 attendees stopped by the NSF MRSEC booth to learn more about this interdisciplinary program.  Close to 50 volunteers representing 16 of the 20 Centers helped answer questions that ranged from “What is the MRSEC?” and “What are the benefits of being involved?” to “How do students become part of the program?” and “How does the funding structure work?”.

A stick-on gel for plants could one day offer a simple, safe and targeted way to treat diseases and pests. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed an adhesive gel that can be loaded with substances, such as small molecule drugs or nanoparticles, and applied directly onto a plant to deliver those materials into its tissues. In tests, a gel loaded with antibiotics cleared a bacterial infection in a plant within about 48 hours.

This year, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is awarding 11 MRSECs totaling $200 million over six years. In addition to eight existing Centers successfully recompeting, NSF is establishing three new MRSECs.

Anne Lynn Gillian-Daniel recently received a 2026 Bassam Z. Shakhashiri Public Science Engagement Award. Gillian-Daniel directs the Wisconsin MRSEC’s Integrated Education and Outreach group.

Universities that have earned the Materials Research Science & Engineering Centers (MRSEC) grant award are engaged in collaborative interdisciplinary research at the very forefront of the field.  Exciting opportunities exist for graduate students, undergraduates, postdoctor scholars, and faculty. This short video summarizes important features of the MRSEC program at all Centers.

University of Wisconsin-Madison electrical engineers have dramatically improved a semiconductor-based imaging system that makes near-infrared light visible to the naked eye.