Overview

Press Release 06-115
NSF Announces Six New Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials

August 10, 2006

In an ongoing effort to enhance diversity in the materials research field, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced awards for six new Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREMs).

The partnerships are designed to link minority-serving institutions with centers, groups or facilities already being funded by NSF's Division of Materials Research. Each one represents a formal, long-term collaboration that brings together researchers with diverse expertise to address complex, interdisciplinary challenges in materials research and education.

The six new PREMs, listed below, will have a total funding of $15.4 million over 5 years, and will complement four existing PREMs established in 2004. They will focus their research on areas such as nanobiotechnology, electronics, spintronics, polymers and medicine. They will target their education programs at work-force development, pre-college training, and advancing the public understanding of science and engineering.

-NSF-

2006 PREM Awards

California State University, Northridge (partnered with the Princeton University MRSEC): $2.05 million
Director: Nicholas Kioussis

This PREM is a partnership between the multidisciplinary W. M. Keck Computational Materials Theory Center at California State University Northridge, a Hispanic-serving institution, and the Princeton Center for Complex Materials, the NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Princeton University. The research emphasis will be on the development of physical models, numerical algorithms and robust simulation techniques for the study of: (1) mechanical properties of metallic systems; (2) charge and spin transport in 2-dimensional interacting electron systems; and (3) spin transport in magnetic tunnel junctions.

The PREMs educational and research efforts will focus on: (1) fostering multidisciplinary and innovative research in computational materials science; (2) educating and training students in cutting-edge computational materials science; (3) stimulating and developing strong industry-university-national laboratory partnerships; and (4) increasing recruitment, retention, and degree attainment by members of groups underrepresented in materials research.

(more 2006 PREM Awards...)

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