Abstract

 

An overview of NSF support for materials research and education, and a review of current funding opportunities.

Dr. Haworth will present an NSF perspective on opportunities in materials research and education.   The National Science Foundation invests approximately $400 million annually in this field, supporting people, ideas, and tools primarily through awards to the nation's colleges and universities.   A major focus for this activity is NSF's Division of Materials Research:   DMR programs support research covering a wide spectrum ranging from fundamental condensed-matter science to materials science and engineering and functional materials. There is also substantial support for materials and materials-related research and education from other areas of NSF.   Specific new opportunities and directions will be described: these include, for example, research on nanoscale science and engineering, a new program for research on biologically-related materials, support for international collaboration in materials research, support for research on 'cyberscience' and computational materials, and efforts to broaden participation in materials research.

Biography

Lance Haworth was appointed Acting Director of the Division of Materials Research (DMR) at the National Science Foundation in February 2006.   He joined DMR as the first Program Director for Materials Research Groups in 1984.   He then served as Program Director for NSF's Materials Research Laboratories and led the planning and implementation of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) Program.   He served as Executive Officer for DMR from 1996-2006.

Dr. Haworth was educated at Liverpool University, the University of Alberta, and Yale University.   He was a postdoctoral research associate in Metallurgy at the University of Illinois, and joined the faculty of the College of Engineering at Wayne State University in 1972, where he was appointed Professor of Metallurgical Engineering in 1982.   He was a visiting scientist and then Vice President with Central Solar Energy Research Corporation in Detroit, Michigan (1977-79).   His research activities focused on fatigue damage mechanisms, structure-property relationships in materials, and nondestructive evaluation.

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The Division of Materials Research at NSF has the primary responsibility for Federal Government support of materials research and education in the nation's colleges and universities.   DMR programs include Condensed Matter Physics, Solid-State Chemistry, Polymers, Metals, Ceramics, Electronic Materials, Biomaterials, Condensed Matter and Materials Theory, Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers, National Facilities, Instrumentation for Materials Research.   The Office of Special Programs coordinates and focuses DMR's support for international collaboration in materials. DMR is a major partner in NSF's Nanoscale Science and Engineering activity.   For more information visit our web page at www.nsf.gov/materials