2016 MRSEC Director’s Annual Meeting NSF/ Division of Materials Research (DMR) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) October 18, 2016 Dan Finotello (PD)

10/15 – 10/16 MRSEC Personnel A. Caro (Oct. 2015, LANL): Solicitation, Annual Reports, 2nd Year Site Visits. PD for PREM M. Deutsch (Jan. 2016, Oregon): MRSEC Competition: Compliance, Panels. PD for EPM B. Schwenzer (Jul. 2016, PNNL): MRSEC Competition: Compliance, Panels. PD for SSMC S. Dexheimer (Jul. 2016, Washington State): MRSEC Competition: Compliance, Panels. PD for REU/CMP/DMREF D. Abhat-Tonse & A. Tonse (April 2016): Web Design & Implementation; mrsec.org, mrfn.org, prem.org, and mips.org?? Google Statistics hard copy available

Division of Materials Research (DMR) Administrative Workflow Linda Sapochak, DD Sean L. Jones, ADDD Velma Lawson, PSM Neila Odom-Jefferson, OS Back up: Benita Back up: Elaine Back up: Denese Back up: Renee Back up: Allison Back up: Meghan Back up: Claudia Back up: Aubrie Vacant Vacant Allison Smith, PS Denese Williams, PA Elaine Washington, PS Meghan Ackerman, PS Benita Fair, PS Renee Ivey, PS Student PA Aubrie TenEyck, Contractor Claudia Johnson, Contractor Recruitment Mgt. Support Program Budget CGIs IAAs Data Analysis DMR Highlights Refreshment Orders Panel Spreadsheet IAA Admin Review DMR Highlights Outreach Program Budget CGIs Admin Review Order Supplies Backup Timekeeper Program Budget CGIs Admin Review Technology Trainer Web Updates Listserv Outreach Admin Review Timekeeper Order Supplies IAA Program Budget CGIs Equip. Excess Program Budget CGIs IAAs Record Retirement Program Budget CGIs IAAs Record Retirement Program Budget CGIs IAAs COV IT Support Data Analysis Trainer National Facilities M Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Eng. Our Future Materials Research Science & Eng. Centers Electronic & Phonic Materials Condensed Matter & Materials Theory Polymers Biomaterials Ceramics XC NIST I-Corps Guebre Tessema CIF 21 Daniele Finotello BSF XC Daryl Hess Andrew Lovinger Joseph Akkara Lynnette Madsen John Schlueter XC NANO Miriam Deutsch MIP INFEWS Solid-State & Materials Chemistry XC QL DMR Initiatives BSF - Binational Science Foundation CIF21 - Cyberinfrastructure Framework 21st INFEWS - Innovation at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water I-Corps - Innovation Corps INT - International QL - Quantum Leap MIP - Materials Innovation Platforms MRI - Major Research Instrumentation NANO - Nanotechnology NIST - National Institute of Standards & Technology NSCI - National Strategic Computing Initiative SNM - Scalable Nanomanufacturing XC - Cross-Cutting Activities Charles Ying Susan Dexheimer Birgit Schwenzer SNM QL Alex Klironomos Condensed Matter Physics Alex Simonian DATA Tania Paskova INT XC MRI Metals & Metallic Nanostructures NSCI QL XC Leonard Spinu Birgit Schwenzer Tomasz Durakiewicz DMR Front Desk Support REU Sites PREM SNM XC XC Expert XC Eugene Zubarev Jose Alfredo Caro Diana Farkas Paul Sokol Jose Alfredo Caro XC QL XC QL Juan Nino Freddy Khoury Created by: Velma Lawson, Sept. 9, 2016 Susan Dexheimer Susan Dexheimer Supports DMR-wide Programs

10/15 – 10/16 MRSEC Year Review 2nd Year Site Visits (Class of 2014): 12 visits from March 10 to May 18: D. Finotello and A. Caro Supplements: Outreach/Recruiting; Science Communication; Students w Disabilities Annual/Final Reports (~30): DF and AC 2016 MRSEC Competition Solicitation ( A. Caro, C. Ying and L. Sapochak): Published March 1, 2016.

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 1984 - DMR establishes MRG program 1994 - DMR establishes MRSEC program 2005 - DMR requests a study of the MRSEC program by the National Academies 2010 - DMR establishes CEMRI (2+ IRGs) and MIRT programs 2013 - DMR drops CEMRI/MIRT nomenclature and returns program name back to MRSEC with no small group competition and no 1 IRG MRSEC; 2 – 5 IRGs. 2016 – MRSEC: 2-3 IRGs. DMR = NSF Division of Materials Research ARPA = Advanced Research Project Agency IDL Interdisciplinary Laboratory MRL = Materials Research Laboratory MRG = Materials Research Group

MRSEC & Other NSF Centers 2011 CEMRI/MIRT 2014 IDL/MRL University Year Initiated Cornell 1960 Pennsylvania Northwestern Chicago 1961 Harvard MIT Pennsylvania State 1974 Ohio State 1982

MRSEC Program Goals / Achievements No dept. boundaries: 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 Broadening participation (PREM); Outreach Re-competition model and Seed program provide a mechanism for a reinvention and adaptation to address emerging areas (flexibility) Leveraging of funds; Attract faculty Materials Network Facilities Network, mrfn.org

Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRG): Core Unit Each IRG: 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. Interaction within an IRG is critical; Interaction among IRGs not required. Collectively, the MRSEC IRG topics cover the entire research breadth that DMR addresses as a division

MRSEC Awards Features Six year awards, $56M total in 2014/15/16; Individual Center support from $1.6M to $3.53M (FY14 includes iSuperSeed) Annual PI meetings (October 18, 2016) Program Director “only” Site Visit in year 2 (12 in 2016) Site visit review with a panel of experts during year 4 (12 Site Visits planned in Mar. – Jun. 2018) Existing MRSEC compete with new proposals in open competition Education Directors Meeting 11/2/2016 U Penn SVR= Site Visit Report RSV= Reverse Site Visit

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

2016 MRSEC Supplement Support He4 Recovery Systems (DMR allocates $1M per year): $300,000 Webmaster for mrsec.org, mrfn.org, prem.org, mips.org: $25,000 Science Slam/Students w Disabilities/LoM/Recruiting: $149,000 Total 2016 MRSEC Investment: $56,474,000

High Impact 21 MRSECs (2016) 56 IRGs 926 publications (42% 2+ authors)(range 20% - 56%) 49 patents awarded (the 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)

Education Outreach, Developing a Diverse Workforce (2016) Extensive Education Programs (21 MRSEC) MRSEC REU (250), RET (56) 900,000’s impacted K-12+ outreach Broadening Participation Diversity Strategic Plan PREM: Currently 12 Extensive Ind. Collaborations A (1380); NL (114); Ind. (318); Int. (150) Building a National Network Education Coordinators Network Materials Research Facilities Network

Infrastructure mrfn.org >1140 Instruments MRFN Statistics 23 centers 1141 instruments 255 experts Recently added instruments Thermogravimetric Analyzer Thermogravimetric Analyzer Mass Spectrometer Infrastructure mrfn.org >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

MRSEC Startup Companies Innovation MRSEC Startup Companies Since 1985: 146 companies in 22 states plus 3 abroad employing > 2520 individuals. More than 1500 patents awarded

2016 2nd Year Site Visits to Class of 2014 Awardees 12 Site Visits took place from March 10 - May 16, 2016 Agenda 8:30 – 9:00 Informal Meeting NSF PDs & MRSEC Director 9:00 – 9:05 Introductions 9:05 - 10:00 am: Overview of the MRSEC by the Director 10-10:15 am Coffee Break 10:15 – 11:20 IRGs & SEEDs 11:20 – 11:50 Education & Outreach 12:00-1:05 pm – Lunch with MRSEC students and post-docs 1:15-2:15 pm - Shared Experimental Facilities Tour 2:15-3:00 pm – NSF Panel caucus 3:00 – 3:30 – NSF PDs debrief MRSEC Executive Committee Potential Changes: Informal Meeting replaced with Panel Orientation Replace Tour with Poster Session Add Panel only Meeting after IRGs/Seeds presentation Report mostly on IRGs and Seeds Submit Comments

Post Award Management: Site Visits 4th Year Site Visits with Full Panel, Class of 2014: March to June 2017; 2 days 5-8 panelists + 1-2 NSF Program Directors Report Written/Completed on site; Response to Site Visit Report (SVR) SVR shared with Reviewers at 2019 MRSEC Competition Reverse Site Visit

2016 – 2019 Annual Report Guidelines Hard Copies Available Final Report = Last Annual Report Annual Report = 12 months timeframe; NOT CUMULATIVE May 2016: 2016-2019 Submitted for Public Comment July 2016: Submitted to OMB for Approval September 2016: OMB approved them as submitted Changes: Clarified Language and Definitions; New Highlights Template; 508 Public Law

2016 MRSEC Competition Solicitation Published: March, 2016 Pre-Proposals Due Date: July 1, 2016 Panels evaluate IRGs Panels: 7 panels, September 7 – 30, 2016 Full Proposal Invitations: emailed 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 To DGA: First week in June

2016 MRSEC Solicitation / 2015 COV MRSEC Remarks www. nsf 2016 MRSEC Solicitation / 2015 COV MRSEC Remarks www.nsf.gov/mps/advisory/covdocs/2015_DMR_COV_Report.pdf The MRSEC program was viewed as an outstanding example of a program that defines and advances frontier topics in basic materials science, and closely couples such basic discovery with innovations that address societal needs. The COV is deeply concerned regarding the sizes of awards. The sizes of awards have not kept pace with inflation or the increasing cost of supporting graduate students and, consequently, the buying power of the funds flowing to individual research groups from DMR grants (in single investigator grants as well as MRSEC grants) has eroded to the point that, in some cases, they do not permit full support of even a single graduate student. It was also commented that the buying power of awards has diminished to the point where most graduate students are partially supported on multiple grants. The COV found a number of instances where comments from reviewers are directed more toward the reputation and visibility of the PIs rather than toward the proposed research. The COV encourages DMR to consider exploring ways to level the playing field for new MRSEC proposals while maintaining the highest quality scientific standards and expectations on broader impact. Specific to the MRSEC, the role of seed/superseed projects was viewed by the COV as extremely important to maintaining the cutting-edge position of these centers. It was felt that an increase in the budget of seed programs in MRSECs would help promote further the evolution of the centers and their ability to response to emerging materials research challenges. Strategic planning in the MRSEC program office should help guide the portfolio development.

2015 MRSEC iSuperSEED Supplements: 2017? The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center program of the Division of Materials Research is making available, depending on funds availability, 3-4 iSuperSEEDs. The iSuperSEED topics of interest must be part of the DMR research portfolio of interest, and for this call they are: Topological Insulators. Theory leading experiment efforts focusing on but not limited to dichalcogenides, Majorana fermions, Weyl semi metals are welcome topics. Quantum Information Science. Topics may include (but not limited to) developing materials, techniques and classical simulation methods for controlled evolution of quantum mechanical states of multiple to many qubit systems utilizing existing qubit technologies, such as quantum dots, superconducting qubits (e.g.transmons and fluxonium), nitrogen vacancy centers, optically-active defects (color centers), quantum cavities, nanomechanical qubits and hybrid qubits   BRAIN-related studies (see Alivisatos et al., Nanotools for Neuroscience and Brain, VOL. 7, # 3, 1850–1866 (2013), www.acsnano.org,  for definitions and appropriate research topics) Sustainable Materials (see DMR DCL NSF14-077) 4 funded at $250,000 each

2007 NRC Report on the MRSEC Program https://www. nap “The MRSEC program produces excellent, frontier science of the same high standard as that supported by NSF through other mechanisms.” (but) “The effectiveness of MRSECs has been reduced in recent years by increasing requirements without a commensurate increase in resources. Increasing the mean grant size is necessary to allow the program to fulfill its important mission goals.”

2016 MRSEC Prel. Prop. Competition Topics were sought that solve fundamental, timely and complex materials problems that are intellectually challenging, important to society, and that potentially broaden the current portfolio. Topics to expand the MRSEC research portfolio were noted in the Solicitation as per COV comments (1st time). Preliminary proposals reviewed based on the IRGs research topics, thus the IRGs in a MRSEC proposal may be reviewed by different panels. Most reviewed in at least 2 panels 7 panels based on research topics.

2016 MRSEC Competition: Review Process Preliminary Proposals: Onsite Panel Review; 7 Topical Panels Panel A: 9/7 - 8/2016 Panel B: 9/12-13/2016 Panel C: 9/15-16/2016 Panel D: 9/19-20/2016 Panel E: 9/22-23/2016 Panel F: 9/26-27/2016 Panel G: 9/29-30/2016

Summary 2016 MRSEC Competition <$21M available for awards The review process involved 89 onsite panelists; these included 24 female, 5 from underrepresented groups, 2 from national labs and 1 person with disabilities. An additional 11 ad-hoc mail reviewers provided 15 IRG reviews, which complemented the panelists' reviews. A total 885 reviews were submitted corresponding to an average of 4.3 reviews per IRG. Decisions: IRG Invite or Not Invite IRGs.