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

2. MRSEC History 1960-61 - Interdisciplinary Research Labs (IDLs) -ARPA
Proposal to transfer IDLs to NSF as a result of the Mansfield Amendment
NSF establishes DMR, MRL program
DMR establishes MRSEC program
DMR establishes CEMRI (Centers) and MIRT (small team) programs
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

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

4. 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

5. 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,

6. 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

8. 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.’

9. 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

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

11. 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)

12. Infrastructure mrfn.org/instruments >1140 Instruments
MRFN Statistics
23 centers 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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).

17. 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