Skip to content Skip to navigation

News

November 27, 2023

NSF MRSEC Launches the Materials Universe Podcast

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.

October 5, 2023

NSF Appoints New DMR Division Director

In early 2023, the National Science Foundation (NSF) appointed Germano Iannacchione as the new Division Director of its Division of Materials Research (DMR)—a division with a critical objective to invest in the discovery, development, and design of new materials. “Our research makes the expensive, cheap; it makes the dirty, clean; it makes the hard, easy; it makes the dangerous, safe,” says Iannacchione.

October 2, 2023

Nanoparticles Made From Plant Viruses Could Be Farmers’ New Ally in Pest Control

A new form of agricultural pest control could one day take root—one that treats crop infestations deep under the ground in a targeted manner with less pesticide.

September 15, 2023

3D-Printed ‘Living Material’ Could Clean Up Contaminated Water

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new type of material that could offer a sustainable and eco-friendly solution to clean pollutants from water.

June 30, 2023

NSF invests $162 million in research centers to accelerate materials science from lab to factory

A $162 million investment from the U.S. National Science Foundation will drive the creation of advanced materials capable of remarkable things — from being tough enough to withstand the heat of a fusion reactor to processing information at the quantum level. Nine Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) will each receive $18 million over six years.

January 30, 2023

New Video Showcases the Value and Benefit of the MRSEC Program

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.

August 12, 2022

Breakthrough work has found a new way to read antiferromagnets electrically

A multi-institutional team has just published a new way to “read” an antiferromagnet electrically—that is, a new way to determine what its magnetic state is.

May 31, 2022

A Closer Look at the Fangs of a Venomous Bloodworm

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley recently discovered that the venomous bloodworm, Glycera dibranchiata creates its four sharp fangs made of hardened melanin and infused with copper by relying on what’s called a multitasking protein—made primarily of two amino acids. The research was funded by the MRSEC program and was recently published in the journal, Matter as well as covered in the New York Times.

February 18, 2022

Let's Talk About Materials Research

The next time you sink your teeth into a soft slice of bread, think about the material training that went into making that bread. Material training is one of many approaches to designing new materials and involves taking a material and applying a repeated training protocol that modifies small-scale structures in the material. The result is the same material that you started with but with new properties. When it comes to that slice of bread, repeatedly kneading the dough changes its gluten structure and results in a stronger and more elastic version of itself -- and also makes for a truly delicious materials science experiment. That science experiment was one of 19 at the first-ever MRSEC Science Slam, recently held online.

January 10, 2022

NSF Hosts First-Ever MRSEC Science Slam

The Division of Materials Science and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center Program are proud to present the first-ever MRSEC Science Slam. With participants from all 19 MRSECs, the Science Slam will feature five-minute long slams on a research highlight or unique broader impact accomplishment. Creativity is key! Non-NSF audience will vote for the winner.

October 13, 2020

Northwestern MRSEC Graduate Students Host Virtual Science for Seniors Program

Olga Ricketts-Peart is not what she calls a “science person.” But she loves science anyway.

The 77-year-old has been attending “Science with Seniors,” a program offered at the Levy Senior Center in Evanston that’s gone online in the past few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

July 2, 2020

NSF Announces MRSEC Competition Results

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.

Pages