This award supports the Solid State Sciences Committee (SSSC) of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. The SSSC monitors the health of the solid state sciences, identifies important new developments at the scientific forefronts, fosters interactions with other fields and between the science community and the federal government, facilitates effective service to the nation, and enhances education in physics. The SSSC is a multidisciplinary committee with membership drawn from universities, industry, and national laboratories. Its members? areas of expertise include condensed-matter physics, solid state chemistry, and materials research aspects of ceramics, electronic materials, metallurgy, and polymers. This broad membership contributes to the ?cross-training? of researchers. Through committee meetings, members are informed about the breadth of science and build a multidisciplinary understanding of the forefronts of science. Equally important, members of the SSSC gain an appreciation for the policymaking process of Washington.
This award supports the Solid State Sciences Committee (SSSC) of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. The SSSC identifies and discusses issues of concern to the solid state science research, development, and applications community, particularly in connection with research opportunities, and provides guidance to federal agencies regarding their associated programs. The committee?s operating guidelines are: (1) to respond to requests for technical information and assistance; (2) to initiate and oversee the conduct and publication of studies in the solid state sciences and its strong multidisciplinary connections to other field of science and technology; (3) to act as an educational resource for the solid state community; and (4) to provide a forum for discussion among solid state and materials scientists and Washington policymakers. The SSSC prepares white papers on emerging areas of research in the solid state sciences to initiate subsequent National Research Council committee studies on those topics.
This grant provided partial support for the National Research Council’s (NRC) Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee (CMMRC). The CMMRC is a group of scientists drawn from universities, industry, and government laboratories with expertise intended to cover the full breadth of the condensed matter and materials research fields. The goal for the CMMRC is (1) to respond to requests for technical information and assistance; (2) to initiate and oversee the conduct and publication of studies in these fields and their multidisciplinary connections to other fields of science and technology; (3) to act as an educational resource for the condensed matter and materials research communities; and (4) to provide a forum for discussion among condensed matter and materials scientists and Washington D.C. policymakers. Over the three years covered by this grant, CMMRC oversaw the completion of two studies that it helped to initiate that impact the fields of condensed matter and materials research – Frontiers In Crystalline Matter and Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences. The committee developed a number of study proposals, both at the request of its support agencies and upon the committee’s assessment of the needs of these fields. It also assisted in the development of study proposals and the initiation of studies arising in other NRC boards where those activities benefited from the expertise of CMMRC and its members. To carry out its objectives, CMMRC meets on a semiannual basis and between those meetings, conducts its business through telephone conferences.
