NSF advances materials research and innovation– University of Delaware selected for new center

Our lives, comfort, and well-being have come to depend on the development of new materials for everything ranging from smart electronics to implantable medical devices. The U.S. National Science Foundation fosters collaboration and innovation among universities, national laboratories, industry, and international scientific organizations through its Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers. These centers work to address critical challenges in material science such as extreme miniaturization, self-folding atomically thin "paper" materials, on-demand assembly of nanoparticles, materials behavior under extreme conditions, and the quantum revolution.

"Materials are enablers of technologies that directly affect people's lives," says Dr. Linda Sapochak, director of the Division of Materials Research. "This week, we announce an investment of $198 million to fund 11 Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers to forge new discoveries and fuel new technologies."

NSF is establishing three new centers and an additional eight successfully recompeted for funding this year in emerging fields such as quantum materials and synthetic biology.

The new centers include:

• University of Delaware Center for Hybrid, Active, and Responsive Materials, which will synthesize nanomaterials capable of self-assembly and other predesigned properties.
• UC Irvine Center for Materials Discovery will investigate synthetic materials in biological environments and under extreme conditions.
• UC San Diego Materials Research Center will develop biosynthetic materials that integrate engineered living matter with artificial polymers.

Read the full announcement from NSF here.