Addresses multifunctional, reconfigurable networks of nanoparticles, polymers, and organic molecules that respond to a range of external stimuli. Fundamental principles are elucidated for understanding and controlling the assembly and reconfiguration of nanoparticles connected by molecular linkers, with theoretical and experimental efforts combining to create unique optical, chemical, or biological materials functionality. Research advances in this IRG are expected to enable responsive, reconfigurable materials based on integration of nanoparticles and macromolecules for applications in electronics, energy storage, photonics, and biology.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Johns Hopkins University supports an interdisciplinary research program on nanostructures with enhancd magneto-electronic properties. The research is carried out in one interdisciplinary research group, with appropriate seed projects. Within the IRG one thrust is on the magneto-transport properties of high quality bismuth thin films; another thrust is on ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic multilayers, and another on nanostructured half-metallic chromium oxide films; two other thrusts highlight electrodeposited one-dimensional structures (nanowires) and patterned structures such as arrays of epitaxially grown interacting chromium oxide dots. The center is engaged in a variety of educational activities, including Research Experiences for undergraduates and Research Experiences for Teachers, an undergraduate fellow program and a high school teacher internship program. The Center supports well maintained shared experimental facilities, which are accessible to outside users and also supports interactive efforts within industry and other sectors.

The University of Chicago MRSEC has established a highly successful, multidisciplinary approach to issues of technological importance at the forefront of materials research. The overarching goal, common to all of our Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs), is to produce the design principles for the next generation of materials. Each of the four IRGs addresses a fundamental issue applicable to a broad class of materials. Our programs attack some of the deepest challenges of materials research. Common themes include investigating materials formed far from equilibrium, exploring new paradigms for materials fabrication and response especially at the micro- and nano- scale, and exploiting feedback between structure and dynamics. These themes, reappearing in each IRG, deal with important basic problems exploring design principles that are far from conventional and whose prospects are far from certain.

The Brandeis Bioinspired Soft Materials Center seeks to create new materials that are constructed from only a few simplified components, yet capture the remarkable functionalities found in living organisms. In addition to opening new directions in materials  science  research,  these  efforts  will elucidate the minimal requirements for the emergence of biological function. This challenging endeavor draws upon our expertise in diverse and complementary experimental and theoretical techniques that span the physical and life sciences. Brandeis offers an ideal environment for such an interdisciplinary undertaking. Its small size engenders a highly collaborative environment. Its innovative graduate program trains students who work and thrive at the interface of physical and life sciences. Its life science faculty have pioneered biochemical studies of molecular motors and cytoskeletal machinery, its chemists have synthesized biocompatible self-assembling filaments, and its physicists have made important contributions toward understanding soft materials such as liquid  crystals,  gels  and  colloids. Researchers in the BioInspired Soft Materials Center combine elemental building blocks, such as motor proteins, DNA origami and filamentous virus, to understand the emergence of biomimetic functionalities that are highly sought-after in materials science and to synergistically engineer life-like materials.

The goal of IRG1 (Membrane based Materials) is to uncover the  design principles that cells  use  to  shape and reconfigure membranes,  and  to apply  these principles in order to engineer heterogeneous and reconfigurable membrane materials. To accomplish this we will exploit the analogy  between  nanometer-sized  lipid  bilayers  and micron-sized  colloidal monolayers assembled from filamentous viruses or DNA origami rods.

The goal of IRG2 (Biological Active Materials) is to create active analogs of quintessential soft matter systems including gels, liquids crystals, emulsions and vesicles using elemental force generators, such as motor proteins and monomer treadmilling. We will experimentally and theoretically characterize the emergent properties of such materials, including their ability to convert chemical energy into mechanical work, perform locomotion, and undergo dynamical reconfiguration.

The theme of the Northwestern University CEMRI* is Multifunctional Nanoscale Materials Structures. The main emphasis of the Center is to train visionary and globally competitive U.S. materials researchers to significantly impact the U.S. economy and solve global challenges, to innovate in an atmosphere of cooperation and healthy competition among national and international partners in both public and private sectors, and to integrate efforts in research, education, knowledge/technology transfer and networking. The Center manages and maintains shared experimental facilities accessed by both Northwestern and external researchers, fosters interactions with National Labs (especially with nearby Argonne National Lab), other universities, industry (including both MRSEC-initiated start-up companies and large corporations) as well as other institutions (including The Art Institute of Chicago), and develops innovative educational programs including the science-themed performances hosted by the MRSEC-sponsored Educational Transdisciplinary Outreach Program in the Arts (ETOPiA).

The research goals of the center consist of understanding the fundamental principles and behaviors of complex nanomaterials systems, transferring results into the development of new functional devices and systems leading to new technologies and industries, and initiating close cooperation among national and international partners to improve research capabilities and infrastructure. Researchers are organized into Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) investigating: "Controlling Fluxes of Charge and Energy at Hybrid Interfaces", "Fundamentals of Amorphous Oxide Semiconductors" and "Plasmonically-Encoded Materials for Amplified Sensing and Information Manipulation", as well as seed programs. The research strategy is to investigate novel phenomena through the interactions of charges, photons, plasmons and excitons in nanostructured materials, including discrete and collective effects in model materials using theory, simulation, modeling and detailed measurements. An understanding of the underlying science will provide a basis for the design of new and extended classes of functional nanostructures for potential applications in sensing and communication, energy and environmental uses.

The educational goals of the Center are to develop and disseminate instructional materials for pre-college Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) classrooms based on Center research, to offer opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to develop skills in innovation and entrepreneurship, to work with international partners and programs to equip U.S. students with global leadership capabilities and a global research perspective, and to provide national leadership in vertically-integrated STEM learning and teaching from middle-school to graduate school in order to improve quality and reduce the cost of education. The Center has a long history of developing Materials World Modules for implementation into STEM classrooms and providing summer research training for teachers and undergraduates in Research Experience for Teachers (RET) and Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs. Partnerships with the International Materials Institute at Northwestern and with industrial partners are providing new opportunities to develop international programs and opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to participate in innovation and entrepreneurship-based research activities.

*a NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Carnegie Mellon University supports research on the study of crystalline interfaces at a mesoscopic scale. The effort concentrates on grain and subgrain boundaries in two-component polycrystals and is complimentary to investigations at the atomic and continuum scales. The seminal concept of the project is that a bridge can be constructed between the character of grain boundaries and certain of their intrinsic properties. This bridge will encompass the very large space of all physically distinctive grain boundaries, known as fundamental zone. The mission is to construct mappings using automated microscopy which link the intrinsic materials properties of individual grain boundaries to their character and chemistry over the entire fundamental zone. The mesoscale of interest lies approximately between 100 microns and 100 nanometer. The anticipated progress is likely to accelerate the world-wide effort towards a unified structure-properties theory, linking structure-properties relations from the atomic scale upwards to the continuum scale. The MRSEC supports the development, operation and maintenance of shared experimental facilities for materials research. It fosters research participation by undergraduates and pre-college students, and is developing strong industrial relationships. The Center currently supports 8 senior investigators, 3 postdoctoral research associates, 8 graduate students, and 4 undergraduates. The MRSEC is directed by Professor Brent L. Adams. %%% The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Carnegie Mellon University supports research on the study of crystalline interfaces at a microscopic scale, also known as mesoscale. The seminal concept of the project is that a bridge can be constructed between the character of grain boundaries and certain of their intrinsic properties. The anticipated progress is likely to accelerate the world-wide effort towards a unified structure-properties theory, linking structure-properties relations from the atomic scale upwards to the continuum scale. The MRSEC supports the development, operation and maintenance of shared experimental facilities for materials research. It fosters research participation by undergraduates and pre-college students, and is developing strong industrial relationships.

The Maryland MRSEC carries out nationally recognized fundamental research on surfaces and interfaces of materials with potential impact on the next generation of opto- and nano-electronic devices, and on complex oxides with potential applications in memory, switches, and sensors.

IRG-1 establishes new synthesis-structure-property relationships for materials development based on non-covalent assembly. By utilizing both covalent and directed non-covalent interactions we aim to create new, extraordinarily responsive materials that will lie at the interface of biomaterials and synthetic macromolecules. These multi-functional systems show great promise in areas as diverse as novel catalysts and materials for tissue engineering.

The Colorado Center advances basic liquid crystal and soft materials science and seeks enhanced capabilities for electro-optic, nonlinear optic, chemical and other applications of liquid crystals.  Industrial interaction focuses on fostering of and collaboration with U.S. display and telecom industries.   The Center operates a vigorous education outreach program featuring science shows for the K-12 audience, and "Materials Science from CU", a program of traveling physical science enrichment classes reaching about 8,000 Colorado K-12 students/year.

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Carnegie Mellon University supports an interdisciplinary research program on grain boundary networks in polycrystals, called The Mesoscale Interface Mapping Project. The group research seeks to advance the understanding of grain boundary systems by developing and applying experimental and analytical techniques, including automated orientation imaging microscopy, to determine the structure, evolution and properties of grain boundaries in metals and ceramics. The Center also provides seed support for emerging research opportunities.

The Center supports well maintained shared experimental facilities that provide specialized instrumentation for the preparation and characterization of bulk materials and surfaces. Education and human resources development efforts include curriculum development collaborations with Pittsburgh area high schools, and a Collaborative to Integrate Research and Education with Florida A&M University that includes undergraduate curriculum development and joint research projects. The Center also has extensive research collaborations with industrial and government laboratories, and with other universities in the U.S. and abroad.

Participants in the Center currently include 10 senior investigators, 1 postdoctoral associates, 10 graduate students, 5 undergraduates and 2 technicians and other support personnel. Professor Gregory Rohrer directs the MRSEC.