This project provides partial support for the National Research Council's (NRC) Condensed Matter and Materials Research Committee (CMMRC). The CMMRC is a multidisciplinary group with membership drawn from universities, industry, and government laboratories. The areas of expertise represented on the committee are intended to cover the full breadth of the condensed matter and materials research fields. Nominees for committee membership have been and will continue to be selected on the basis of demonstrated intellectual leadership in these areas and thoughtful consideration of cross-cutting issues. The operating guidelines of CMMRC include the following objectives: (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 strong 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. To carry out those objectives, CMMRC meets on a semiannual basis and between those meetings, conducts its business through telephone conferences.
The activities of CMMRC will generate broader impacts in two ways. First, these activities engage a group of leading scientists from across the subfields of condensed matter and materials science in joint deliberations and provide a learning environment for that body regarding the public-policy process for science and the position of those fields in the broader context of the physical sciences. Second, CMMRC activities lead to an improved understanding of condensed matter and materials science by the broader scientific and policy-making communities. By holding multi-disciplinary workshops and town hall meetings, and initiating studies, CMMRC will continue to educate researchers, policy makers, and the general public about advances in condensed matter and materials science that have impact in other fields of science and technology.
(CMMRC). The CMMRC is a multidisciplinary group with members drawn from universities, industry, and government laboratories. The areas of expertise represented on the committee are intended to cover the breadth of the condensed matter and materials research fields. The operating guidelines of CMMRC include the following objectives: (1) to respond to requests for technical information and assistance, both from within the National Academies and from outside federal research agencies; (2) to initiate and oversee ad hoc studies in these fields and their multidisciplinary connections to other fields of science and technology; (3) to serve as long-term stewards for studies initiated under CMMRC’s direction; (4) to act as an educational resource for the condensed matter and materials research communities and the agencies that support them; and (5) to provide a forum for discussion among condensed matter and materials scientists and Washington D.C. policymakers. Over the one year covered by this grant, CMMRC conducted two face-to-face meetings and the rest of its business via teleconferences and emails. At its fall 2011 meeting, held on November 4-5, 2011 at the Beckman Center in Irvine, California, the committee held a focus session on how to effectively communicate about research to the general public and spend much of the rest of the meeting developing a brief report that will describe recent areas where materials research has produced significant benefits for society. The main focus of its spring 2012 meeting, held on May 7-8, 2012 at the Keck Center in Washington, DC, was a series of talks on recent developments in the areas of self-assembly, functionality and complexity. It also heard from and engaged in discussions with representatives of the agencies that support materials and condensed matter research. During the period covered by this grant, CMMRC also oversaw the initiation of one study on the current status and future direction of high magnetic field science in the United States and 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.
