Soft Materials Research Center

科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的材料研究科学与工程中心(MRSEC)支持液晶领域的创新研究和教育，范围从尖端、基础液晶和软材料科学到液晶光子、化学和生物技术应用的增强能力的开发。一个由物理学家、化学家、生物化学家、分子生物学家、化学工程师和材料科学家组成的多学科团队在研究和教育项目上合作。该中心提供了广泛的活动方案，旨在教育和提高科学素养。其中包括本科生的暑期研究经验和教师的研究经验。它的K-12外展项目，科罗拉多大学的材料科学，将中心的工作人员带到教室里，并利用对材料的理解来教授物理科学概念。面向公众的外展活动包括液晶奇才家庭科学秀。MRSEC将参与一个全大学范围的计划(红衫计划)，该计划旨在提供一年前的STEM预科教学、沟通技能发展和集群式住房，以帮助未得到充分服务的高中生为成功地成为理工科本科生做好准备。该中心致力于与各种公司和国际合作者进行合作研究，并为外部用户提供优秀的实验和计算共享设施。MRSEC的研究被组织为一个单一的跨学科研究小组，液晶前沿，有三个研究推动力。液晶宏观/纳米/分子推力专注于块体和复合液晶系统的科学和技术，追求新材料的设计和合成，以及发现和探索自组装和有序化的新主题。主动式液晶界面推力追求软界面结构的科学和应用，强调那些对外部刺激(如光、场或化学成分)做出响应的界面结构，并在这样做时影响周围的整体介质。功能液晶组件推力推进了层次化结构的软凝聚相的科学和技术，强调纳米相分离是获得新型功能材料的途径。

The Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at the University of Colorado at Boulder supports innovative research and education in liquid crystals, ranging from cutting-edge, basic liquid crystal and soft materials science to the development of enhanced capabilities for photonic, chemical, and biotech applications of liquid crystals. A multi-disciplinary team of physicists, chemists, biochemists, molecular biologists, chemical engineers and materials scientists work collaboratively on research and education projects. The Center offers a broad program of activities directed towards education and enhancement of science literacy. These include summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates and Research Experiences for Teachers. Its K-12 outreach program, Materials Science from Colorado University, brings Center personnel into classrooms and uses the understanding of materials to teach physical science concepts. Outreach activities to the public include the Liquid Crystal Wizards family science show. The MRSEC will participate in a University-wide program (Red Shirt Program) designed to offer a pre-freshman year of preparatory STEM instruction, communication skills development, and clustered housing to help prepare underserved high school students for success as science and engineering undergraduates. The Center pursues collaborative research with a variety of companies and international collaborators and offers its excellent experimental and computational shared facilities for outside users. Research at the MRSEC is organized as a single Interdisciplinary Research Group, Liquid Crystal Frontiers, with three research thrusts. The Liquid Crystal Macro/Nano/Molecular thrust focuses on the science and technology of bulk and composite liquid crystal systems, pursuing the design and synthesis of new materials, and the discovery and exploration of novel themes of self assembly and ordering. The Active Liquid Crystal Interfaces thrust pursues the science and applications of soft interface structures, emphasizing those that respond to external stimuli, such as light, fields, or chemical composition, and in doing so affect the surrounding bulk media. The Functional Liquid Crystal Assemblies thrust advances the science and technology of hierarchically-structured soft condensed phases, emphasizing nanophase segregation as a path to novel functional materials.