1. KICK-OFF MEETING Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers
Sez Atamturktur
AVP for Research Development
MRSEC Kick-off Meeting: Clemson’s Strengths and ORD Support
12/13/2017

2. Goals of this Meeting
Exploring a strategic MRSEC roadmap for Clemson (options: select the PI, select the IRGs, competitive limited submission call, meetings & dialog, team-building exercises, etc.) Shaping up potential IRGs (options: selecting topics, identifying teams and IRG leaders, etc.) Identifying the MRSEC director (options: consensus building, competitive selection, etc.)

3. MRSEC Overview Six-year grant: competition takes place every 3 years.
Proposals are reviewed through a multi-step process starting with a pre- proposal.
MRSECs are limited submission: one pre-proposal per institution.
Also, the MRSEC program does not provide support simultaneously for more than one center based at any one institution.
Awards range in size from about $1.6 million to $3.6 million per year and are made for an initial period of up to 6 years. 
Last round, of the 8 awards, 3 were new centers and 5 were renewals.

4. MRSEC Checklist All MRSECs are expected to provide the following:
1. Advances in fundamental materials science
2. Agility to adapt to changing needs
3. Significant contribution to shared facilities
4. Strong educational and outreach core that is shared by IRGs
5. Broadening participation efforts
6. Partnerships with industry to stimulate knowledge transfer

5. MRSEC Overview Two to three IRGs are allowed in every MRSEC.
In 2017, 5 of the 8 awards had 2 IRGs.
3 of the 8 awards had 3 IRGs.
Topic areas should be related but don’t have to be integrated! However, the need for a center must be clearly articulated.
Rule of thumb: the total (MRSEC) has to amount to more than the sum of its parts (IRGs).
“The proposal must clearly articulate the synergy between the IRGs.”
A pre-proposal must have at least 2 excellent IRGs to be invited for a full proposal. IRGs are likely to be evaluated in different panels.

6. MRSEC Overview
These IRGs must be supported by one of the 8 DMR programs
SOLID STATE & MATERIALS CHEMIS (SSMC)
POLYMERS (POL)
METAL & METALLIC NANOSTRUCTURE (MMN)
ELECTRONIC/PHOTONIC MATERIALS (EPM)
CONDENSED MATTER & MAT THEORY (CMMT)
CERAMICS (CER)
BIOMATERIALS (BMAT)
CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS (CMP)

7. Clemson’s DMR Portfolio
Since 1990s
(~last 30 years)
Since 2007
(last 10 years)
SOLID STATE & MATERIALS CHEMIS (SSMC)
$4,061,079.00
$1,632,544.00
POLYMERS (POL)
$2,460,875.00
$1,585,875.00
METAL & METALLIC NANOSTRUCTURE (MMN)
$440,000.00
ELECTRONIC/PHOTONIC MATERIALS (EPM)
$943,613.00
$998,000.00
ELECTROCHEMISTRY & SURFACE CHE
$623,000.00
$0.00
CONDENSED MATTER & MAT THEORY (CMMT)
$177,500.00
$7,500.00
CERAMICS (CER)
$1,464,625.00
BIOMATERIALS (BMAT)
$575,000.00
XC-Crosscutting Activities
$861,000.00
$645,000.00
Total
$10,983,692.00
$7,341,044.00
Total-XC
$10,122,692.00
$6,696,044.00

8. MRSEC Checklist All MRSECs are expected to provide the following:
1. Advances in fundamental materials science
2. Agility to adapt to changing needs
3. Significant contribution to shared facilities
4. Strong educational and outreach core that is shared by IRGs
5. Broadening participation efforts
6. Partnerships with industry to stimulate knowledge transfer

9. MRSEC Overview
For agility, a great deal of autonomy is given to the PI and his/her team. As a result, the MRSEC PIs are usually very senior: most have >150 publications and h-indices over 45. The PIs are usually experts in at least one of the IRG topic areas. The exception here is Nicholas Abbott (UW Madison). Topically, Abbott is in colloidal chemical engineering, while the Wisconsin MRSEC is in glasses. About 10% of the PIs are also the IRG leaders.

10. MRSEC Checklist
Interestingly, in recent years, most MRSEC PIs were those who had received either a NSF CAREER, a PECASE, or a PYI. Other major grants that were received are the usual flagship DMR awards: MWN (Materials World Network), NIRT (Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Teams), DMREF (Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer Our Future), MRI (Major Research Instrumentation), NUE (Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education), EFRI (Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation), and PREM (Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials).

11. Previous CAREER Awards from DMR
CAREER: Polymeric Optical Band Gap Composites - A Study of Multifunctional Photonic Materials, DMR ELECTRONIC/PHOTONIC MATERIALS, 03/01/2003, Stephen Foulger CAREER: Self-Protecting Artificial Implants and Invigorating the STEM Education Pipeline with Biomaterials, DMR BIOMATERIALS, 07/01/2016, Andrew Tennyson CAREER: Towards Engineering Electronic Defects in Inorganic Luminescent Materials, DMR CERAMICS, 06/01/2017, Luiz Jacobsohn

12. MRSEC Checklist
All MRSECs are expected to provide the following: 1. Advances in fundamental materials science 2. Agility to adapt to changing needs 3. Significant contribution to shared facilities 4. Strong educational and outreach core that is shared by IRGs 5. Broadening participation efforts 6. Partnerships with industry to stimulate knowledge transfer

13. MRSEC Overview
Each MRSEC is required to contribute to the national network “addressing common problems and applications.” A MRSEC should complement the existing facilities in Materials Research Facility Network (MRFN). The MRFN provides shared experimental and computational facilities for all MRSECs and beyond ( MRFN currently has 23 centers, 1,138 instruments, and 262 experts.

14. MRSEC Overview
MRSEC PIs serve on a national liaison team for MFRN and are expected to actively contribute to the liaison team efforts. Each MRSEC must provide support for shared experimental facilities that are properly staffed, equipped, and maintained as well as accessible to users from the Center, the participating institutions, and other institutions and sectors.

15. MRSEC Checklist
All MRSECs are expected to provide the following: 1. Advances in fundamental materials science 2. Agility to adapt to changing needs 3. Significant contribution to shared facilities 4. Strong educational and outreach core that is shared by IRGs 5. Broadening participation efforts 6. Partnerships with industry to stimulate knowledge transfer

16. MRSEC Overview
Once funded, MRSECs are evaluated based on the number of:
Ph.D.s awarded
Post-docs completed
Publications
Patents issued
Cooperative programs involving minority and non-minority institutions are strongly encouraged.

17. MRSEC Checklist
All MRSECs are expected to provide the following: 1. Advances in fundamental materials science 2. Agility to adapt to changing needs 3. Significant contribution to shared facilities 4. Strong educational and outreach core that is shared by IRGs 5. Broadening participation efforts 6. Partnerships with industry to stimulate knowledge transfer

18. Insights from a former MRSEC PI…

19. Thank you, Marek…

20. Let’s discuss
What are today’s most pressing materials science and engineering research questions?
What evidence is there to support this claim?

21. What are Clemson’s core strengths in materials research expertise?
Let’s discuss
What are Clemson’s core strengths in materials research expertise?

22. What are Clemson’s core strengths in materials research facilities?
Let’s discuss
What are Clemson’s core strengths in materials research facilities?

23. Let’s discuss the next steps
Other universities are approaching MRSEC in a variety of different ways:
Option 1: Conducting a limited submission competition to select IRGs (then identify the PI from the selected IRG teams)
Option 2: Conducting a limited submission competition to select the PI (the PI selects the IRGs)
Option 3: Coordinating team-building “activities” to develop the IRGs
Option 4: Initiating a campus-wide dialog for consensus building regarding who the PI should be

24. We are committed to supporting you…
Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers
We are committed to supporting you…
Sez Atamturktur
AVP for Research Development
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