The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Chicago focuses on two overarching, intertwined issues: the manipulation of structural properties connected through hierarchies of length scales, and the feedback between structural properties and dynamical response. The understanding and control of these issues provides a foundation for the design of the next generation of functional materials, from cooperative spin systems, self-assembled nanostructures, or microfluidic systems, to bio-inorganic hybrid materials. The Center's research is organized into four interdisciplinary groups (IRGs). IRG1 investigates the Dynamical Formation of Structures in Liquids and Elastic Solids that emerge as one follows coarse, macroscopic features to finer and finer length scales, including phenomena such as droplet break-up, crumpling and mesoscale flows. IRG2 aims to design and implement Hierarchically Assembled Molecular Materials composed of molecular assemblies on surfaces that express novel function. IRG3, Jamming and Slow Relaxation in Materials Far from Equilibrium, develops a unifying framework to understand the complex behavior of large classes of materials, from spin systems to supercooled liquids to granular matter, that become stuck in states far from equilibrium and defy description by conventional statistical mechanics. IRG4, Bio-Interfacial Science, develops new routes for designing and controlling the interface between biological entities and man-made materials, including development of biochips for quantitative characterization of biological activities and the assembly of protein units for novel nanostructured materials.
The Center's research benefits from extensive shared experimental facilities that provide research support and training of students. The MRSEC operates a comprehensive program that integrates research with education that includes a seminar and workshop series, a shared student and postdoctoral associates program, a long-term visitors program, as well as outreach programs such as summer research experiences for undergraduates and links with the K-12 level that emphasize attracting and keeping women and minorities in science. The Center also has an industrial partnership program that includes research collaborations, joint workshops, and joint student training activities, as well as a close collaboration with researchers at Argonne National Laboratory.
Participants in the Center currently include 27 senior investigators, 9 postdoctoral associates, 29 graduate students, and 9 technicians and other support personnel. Professor Heinrich Jaeger directs the MRSEC.
