Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

芝加哥大学的材料研究科学与工程中心（MRSEC）支持创新研究，以产生下一代材料的设计原则。研究重点是研究远离平衡状态形成的材料，探索材料制造和响应的新范式，以及利用结构和动力学之间的反馈。高级研究人员来自芝加哥大学的七个系和五个研究所，以及邻近的阿贡国家实验室的两个部门。除了培养多样化的研究生和本科生群体外，芝加哥MRSEC还为芝加哥南区邻近社区服务不足的学生带来科学探究经验，包括学生和教师以及课后科学俱乐部项目。MRSEC为来自美国各地的本科生提供暑期研究机会。作为其向公众推广的一部分，MRSEC与芝加哥科学与工业博物馆、旧金山探索博物馆和伊利诺伊州奥罗拉的科技馆合作，开发材料科学展览，并向研究生介绍博物馆展览的开发。MRSEC致力于增加中心的多样性，这反映在女性在中心调查员和领导中的重要参与上。MRSEC与智利和荷兰的大学有国际合作。该MRSEC的研究由四个跨学科研究小组（IRG）组织：(i)远离平衡的材料中的干扰和慢弛缓研究小组考虑导致流动系统变得刚性和被困远离平衡的因素。其目标是追求新型材料加工，以利用堵塞和玻璃材料常见的老化和记忆效应。（ii）材料片的动态过渡的IRG侧重于界面的动力学，如液滴或膜的表面。目标是利用界面的不稳定性来塑造材料，以创建显式塑造不切实际的结构。（iii）纳米颗粒和基于分子的功能材料的合理设计IRG开发工具，以基于现有的大量纳米尺寸颗粒创建新类别的材料。目标包括了解纳米粒子自组织的基本原理，以调整阵列特性。（iv）宏观量子相干性研究小组试图通过解决量子材料工程中的基本问题来建立对材料的控制。目标是通过专注于可以精细调整的系统来创建宏观相干状态，从而能够精确控制复杂的量子动力学，从而创建有用的设备。

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Chicago supports innovative research to produce the design principles for the next generation of materials. The research is focused on investigating materials formed far from equilibrium, exploring new paradigms for material fabrication and response, and exploiting feedback between structure and dynamics. Senior investigators come from seven Departments and five Institutes of University of Chicago and two Divisions at the neighboring Argonne National Laboratory. In addition to training a diverse group of graduate and undergraduate students, the Chicago MRSEC brings science inquiry experiences to underserved students in neighboring communities on Chicago's South Side including programs for students and teachers and after-school Science Clubs. The MRSEC provides summer research opportunities to undergraduate students from all over USA. As part of its outreach to the general public, the MRSEC collaborates with Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and SciTech in Aurora, IL to develop materials science exhibits and to introduce graduate students to museum-exhibit development. The MRSEC is committed to increasing the Center diversity as reflected in the significant participation by women in the Center's investigators and leadership. The MRSEC has international collaborations with universities in Chile and Holland.Research at this MRSEC is organized in four Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs): (i) The IRG on Jamming and Slow Relaxation in Materials Far From Equilibrium considers the factors causing flowing systems to become rigid and trapped far from equilibrium. Its goal is to pursue new types of materials processing to exploit effects of aging and memory common to jammed and glassy materials. (ii) The IRG on Dynamic Transitions of Material Sheets focuses on the dynamics of interfaces, such as on the surface of a droplet or a membrane. The goal is to use the instabilities at interfaces to shape materials to create structure where explicit shaping is impractical. (iii) The IRG on Rational Design of Nanoparticle and Molecule-Based Functional Materials develops tools to create new classes of materials based on the large assortment of nanometer-sized particles now available. Goals include understanding the fundamentals of nano-particle self-organization to tune array properties. (iv) The IRG on Macroscopic Quantum Coherence seeks to establish control of materials by addressing fundamental issues in quantum materials engineering. The goal is to create macroscopically-coherent states by focusing on systems that can be finely tuned to enable precise control of the complex quantum dynamics for the creation of useful devices.