The Northwestern University Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (NU-MRSEC) advances world-class materials research, education, and outreach via active interdisciplinary collaborations within the Center and with external partners in academia, industry, national laboratories, and museums, both domestically and abroad. The intellectual merit of the NU-MRSEC resides primarily within its interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) and seed-funded projects that promote dynamic evolution of Center research foci. IRG-1 entitled “Reconfigurable Responses in Mixed-Dimensional Heterojunctions” explores nanoelectronic materials systems that simultaneously process and store information to provide functionality exhibited by more complex biological systems such as neural networks. IRG-2 entitled “Functional Heteroanionic Materials via the Science of Synthesis” brings together experts in bulk crystal and thin-film synthesis, computational design of materials, and advanced characterization to expand a relatively unexplored class of materials with unconventional combinations of properties such as high electrical conductivity and low thermal conductivity.
