9713144 Ballance A series of six focus groups will convene at the Spring, 1997 meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS) in San Francisco from March 31 to April 3, 1997 to address issues of mutual interest to the Society and to NSF's Division of Materials Research, including the Division's merit review procedures, research and education funding, and balance among funding modes. The focus groups will reflect the distribution of MRS membership, of which approximately one half is from academic institutions, one fourth from industry, and one fourth from government laboratories and private organizations. A summary of the conclusions and recommendations of the focus groups will be provided to NSF and published on the MRS World Wide Web site. %%% A series of six focus groups will convene at the Spring, 1997 meeting of the Materials Research Society (MRS) in San Francisco to address issues of mutual interest to the Society and to NSF's Division of Materials Research, including the Division's merit review procedures, research and education funding, and balance among funding modes. The focus groups will reflect the distribution of MRS membership. A summary of the conclusions and recommendations of the focus groups will be published. ***