MRSEC Program mrsec.org; mrfn.org Division of Materials Research Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) June 8, 2017 Dan Finotello

MRSEC History 1960-61 - Interdisciplinary Research Labs (IDLs) -ARPA 1971 - Proposal to transfer IDLs to NSF as a result of the Mansfield Amendment 1972 - NSF establishes DMR, MRL program 1994 - DMR establishes MRSEC program 2010 - DMR establishes CEMRI (Centers) and MIRT (small team) programs 2013 - DMR drops CEMRI/MIRT nomenclature and returns program name back to MRSEC with no MIRT 2016 – MRSEC: Just Completed DMR = NSF Division of Materials Research ARPA = Advanced Research Project Agency IDL Interdisciplinary Laboratory MRL = Materials Research Laboratory MRG = Materials Research Group

NSF Centers 2011 CEMRI IDL/MRL University Year Initiated Cornell 1960 Pennsylvania Northwestern Chicago 1961 Harvard MIT Pennsylvania State 1974 Ohio State 1982

MRSEC “Uniqueness” Six Years Awards Site Visits in Years 2 and 4 Re-competition model: they do not sunset Made of Interdisciplinary Research Groups, IRGs; currently 2 to 3 IRGs. Faculty participants of different expertise and involving several departments Industrial and International participation: Transdisciplinary

MRSEC Program Goals / Achievements Stimulate and support outstanding interdisciplinary research and education in materials of a scope and complexity that requires a center. All students, in or out of MRSEC benefit from it. Critical mass of investigators of complementary/diverse expertise Address fundamental, complex materials problems that are intellectually challenging and important to society Foster partnerships between academia and industry, National labs, and international: transdisciplinarity Re-competition model and Seed program provide a mechanism for a reinvention and adaptation to address emerging areas (flexibility) Leveraging of funds; Attract faculty Start-ups; Patents Materials Network Facilities Network, www.mrfn.org

Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRG): Core Unit Each IRG (6-12 senior participants): Addresses a major materials topic or area synergistically Is more than a ‘collection of individual investigators’ Typical IRG effort includes synthesis, theory, characterization, evaluation, and maybe applications IRGs map onto Individual Investigator Programs; MRSEC may contain dissimilar IRGs: a unique center feature. Collectively, the MRSEC IRG topics cover the entire research breadth that DMR addresses as a division

Structure of a MRSEC “The Umbrella” Education (precollege to postdoctoral) and development of human resources. Required Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. Active collaborations with industry and other sectors. Shared experimental facilities (networked). Flexibility to develop new areas, support for ‘SEEDs.’

SEED Program 10% of the overall budget devoted to SEED projects All inclusive internal competition 1-2 years projects Seed support for junior faculty and for investigators changing fields; Emerging areas of interdisciplinary research; Programs to link the university effort in materials with industry, national laboratories, and other sectors; The development of tools and cyber infrastructure for remote access to instrumentation; Innovative interdisciplinary educational ventures Complementary to IRGs or to Nucleate new IRGs

MRSEC Expenditures 2016 % of Fixed Total Budget, $56 M/yr Majority of Research funds (IRGs + Seeds) pay for Graduate student and Post-doc salaries.

High Impact 21 MRSECs (2016) 56 IRGs 926 publications (42% 2+ authors)(range 20% - 56%) 49 patents awarded (yearly ave.) 21 MRSEC (2016) 796 (608) supported TTF participants (21-27%F; 8-10%URM); 28% PHY, 21.5% CHE, 17.7% MS, 10.3% each EE & CE 836 GS (25.1% F, 7.7% URM)+ 180 UGS (46% F, 16% URM) 298 Post-docs (24.8% F, 7.7% URM)

Infrastructure mrfn.org/instruments >1140 Instruments MRFN Statistics 23 centers 1141 instruments 255 experts Recently added instruments Thermogravimetric Analyzer Thermogravimetric Analyzer Mass Spectrometer Infrastructure mrfn.org/instruments >1140 Instruments Yearly Users of MRSEC Facilities > 1380 Academic > 530 Industry >50 National Labs 743 Publications acknowledged MRSEC SF 75 MRSEC Technical Staff in SEFs 31 Other Technicians 51 Administrative Staff 37 Education Staff

https://mrsec.org/facilities Book an Instrument The Materials Research Facilities Network is a nationwide partnership of the Shared Experimental Facilities (SEFs) supported by the National Science Foundation's Material Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs).  The MRFN is designed and operated to provide support to researchers and experimental facilities engaged in the broad area of Materials Research in academic, government and industrial laboratories around the world.  Search for Instruments at Member Facilities Find and Work with Technical Experts Access Training and Educational Materials Browse the Above Categories by Instrument Type Log in and Update your Center's Information The MRFN enhances investigation of material synthesis, characterization, and theory by providing researchers at diverse institutions with unprecedented access to the cutting-edge facilities, instrumentation, techniques, and collaborators available at MRSEC Shared Experimental Facilities, which are geographically spread throughout the United States at major research universities. The MRFN is also the nexus point for the operators, managers, and directors of MRSEC SEFs for documenting best practices, conferring with colleagues, and sharing expertise and tools to enhance and streamline the operation of their shared facilities. Finally, MRFN collects documentation for training and teaching protocols for the instrumentation it supports.

MRSEC Startup Companies Innovation MRSEC Startup Companies Since 1985: 148 companies in 22 states plus 3 abroad employing > 2550 individuals; More than 1500 patents awarded

2016 MRSEC Competition: 2 or 3 IRGs Solicitation Published: March, 2016 Pre-Proposals Due Date: July 1, 2016 Panels evaluate IRGs Panels: 7-8 panels, September 7 – 30, 2016 Full Proposal Invitations: October 6, 2016 Full Proposals Due Date: December 2, 2016 Mail Review Reverse Site Visits: Invitations: Mid March 2017 Panels: Mid April to Mid May 2017 Recommendations To DGA: First week in June

2016/2017 MRSEC Competition Otcomes Received 80 MRSEC preliminary proposals including 221 IRGs by the July 1, 2016 submission deadline. After checking for compliance with the solicitation and the NSF Grant Proposal Guide, five preliminary proposals were Returned Without Review (RWR). Research not aligned with DMR The 75 MRSEC preliminary center proposals included 206 IRGs and were separated into 7 interdisciplinary topical panels and reviewed by a total of 100 individuals. Overall a total 885 reviews were submitted corresponding to an average of 4.3 reviews per IRG. The MRSEC Program recommended inviting 18 Full Proposal Submissions including 43 of 206 IRGs Evaluation of 252 IRG separate reviews (nearly 6 reviews per IRG) provided by 123 reviewers, the MRSEC program recommended to invited 10 MRSEC proposals with 26 IRGs to the April/May 2017 reverse site visits (RSV).

September 2017: 20 MRSECs CLASS of 2014; 12 Awards: National investment in the areas of sustainable energy, bio- and soft-materials, polymers, nanoscience, next-generation electronics and photonics, condensed matter physics: Brandeis, Chicago, Colorado, Columbia, Harvard, Minnesota, MIT, Nebraska, NYU, Ohio State, Penn State, Princeton. CLASS of 2017; 8 Awards: TBA by September 1, 2017