NSF funds over $50M in new partnerships to broaden participation in materials science

The U.S. National Science Foundation is announcing $50 million in Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) awards to 15 collaborative research projects nationwide to expand participation and access to materials science-focused facilities, education, training and careers.

NSF is investing over $50 million in total, which includes awards of over $4 million each to 11 partnering institutions over six years and $1 million in seed funding to each of four additional institutions over three years.

"Supporting the scientific talent present in every community in our country is imperative to strengthening the nation's materials research infrastructure, which is central to everything from semiconductors to medical implants," said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "NSF is dedicated to empowering everyone who wants to shape our scientific future for the benefit of their communities and the U.S. research community at large."

Since 2004, the NSF PREM program has broadened access to materials science-focused skills and opportunities by supporting strategic partnerships between minority-serving institutions and NSF-funded research centers and facilities at research-intensive institutions.

In addition to fundamental materials research projects, the new PREM awards will support specialized training and mentorship for students and early-career researchers, new research faculty positions, expanded educational outreach to local high school students and teachers, and other activities to build pathways for the future materials research workforce. Six awards are to institutions located in states that receive less federal funding than others and participate in the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.

The 2024 PREM awardees: 

Partnership for Education and Advancement of Quantum and nano-Sciences at Fort Lewis College and Norfolk State University, in partnership with the Science and Technology Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand at the University of Washington, will directly support over 80 undergraduate and high school students at Fort Lewis College, a non-tribal Native American-serving institution in Durango, Colorado, and Norfolk State University, a historically Black university in Virginia. Research focus: quantum-level material properties with potential applications in materials fabrication and nanoscale devices such as nanotherapeutics for biomedical purposes. 

Partnership for Research and Education in Materials Science at Jackson State University (JSU), in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will provide participants from JSU and other local Mississippi universities, community colleges and K-12 schools the chance to gain a comprehensive STEM education through materials research and the chance to participate in conferences with world-renowned scientists and nano-exhibitions. Research focus: innovative material research with applications in secure communications, environmental sustainability, transportation and communication.

Partnership for Research and Education in Innovative Composite Materials at Xavier University of Louisiana, in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Chicago, will fund programming for K-12 academic enrichment in materials science and pathways for Xavier undergraduates to pursue doctorates in materials science and engineering. Research focus: developing new composite materials for high energy density battery systems to improve long-term cyclability and yield of rechargeable batteries for portable energy storage.

Materials Research and Education Consortium at the University of Hawaii, in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Washington, will fund new STEM pathways to integrate cultural Hawaiian knowledge with materials research at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Research focus: clean energy and sustainability solutions for challenges facing Hawaii, including reliance on imported fuels for electricity and transportation, resource and waste management, soil erosion, and ocean contamination exacerbated by climate change. 

Center for Interfacial Electrochemistry of Energy Materials: Nanomaterials for Sustainable Renewable Energy at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio's Piedras, Mayagüez and Humacao campuses, and the Universidad Ana G. Méndez's Cupey and Gurabo campuses, in partnership with the NSF-supported Center for High Energy X-ray Science at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) at Cornell University, will focus on retaining Puerto Rican undergraduates engaged in energy materials research while leveraging existing activities at CHESS. Research focus: nanomaterials for energy harvesting and storage to promote a rapid transition to renewable energy (such as solar) to help reduce climate change impacts on small tropical islands.

Collaborative Research and Education in Advanced Materials at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of California, San Diego, will support over 80 undergraduate and graduate students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, a historically Black university. Research focus: two-dimensional materials, plasmonic materials and biomaterials to create flexible device components, improved optics capabilities and biodegradable materials to support environmental sustainability, human health and civil infrastructure.  

Center for Advancing Research and Training for STEM Success at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, engages, recruits and retains Hispanic students in STEM careers with a focus on empowering Hispanic women in related graduate programs. Research focus: discovery and design of functional nanostructured materials, soft materials, biomaterials and complex fluids and interfaces with implications for climate change, quantum information and medical science.

Center for Quantum Material Innovations and Educational Excellence at the University of Central Florida (UCF), in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Washington, will offer materials research opportunities and training for potential and matriculating UCF students at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels. Research focus: quantum material synthesis for energy-efficient communications, novel chemicals and new medicines. UCF is one of the nation's largest minority-serving institutions.

Partnership for Education and Research in Topological Materials at the California State University-Long Beach Foundation (CSULB), in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at The Ohio State University, leverages CSULB's status as an urban Hispanic-serving institution to build educational pathways at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including post-bachelors bridge programming and a research-based Master of Sciences degree. Research focus: exploring phenomena like topology and cooperative emergent behaviors with applications in magnetic storage, energy-efficient devices and bio-inspired materials. 

Partnership for Research and Education in Materials at Tennessee State University and Fisk University, in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will offer materials-relevant graduate degree programs and increase access to research and career opportunities at these historically Black universities. Research focus: multifunctional nanomaterials and machine-learning-informed design at atomic and macroscale levels.

Partnership for Research and Education in Functional Materials at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and Grambling State University (GSU), in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at Northwestern University, will establish an undergraduate-to-graduate materials research pathway with postdoc opportunities and career placement for students at UTA, a Hispanic-serving institution and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution and GSU, a historically Black university. Research focus: novel polymeric biomaterials and bioinspired materials used for drug delivery and tissue repair with biomedical applications.

Seed funding

These institutions will each receive $1 million to develop a new partnership and can compete for full PREM awards in the next award cycle.

• Partnership for Research and Education on Quantum Materials and Processes at New Mexico State University, in partnership with NSF Quantum Foundry at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
• Materials Interfaces Research and Access Center at Northern Arizona University and Pasadena College in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at The University of Texas at Austin.
• Center for Bioinspired and Architectured Materials at California State University, Los Angeles, in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of California, Irvine.
• Venture for Innovation in Self-assembly and Integration of Optoelectronic Nanostructures at the University of California Merced in partnership with Science and Technology Center for Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand at the University of Washington.