partnerships

Industrial Partnership: IPRIME

Formal interactions with the corporate sector are organized primarily through the UMN Industrial Partnership for Research in Interfacial and Materials Engineering (IPRIME), with oversight from the Faculty Director, Professor Satish Kumar (Chemical Engineering & Materials Science). IPRIME is an innovative, broad-based industrial partners program that provides member companies first-hand access to students and shared knowledge generated by a suite of research programs, including those with MRSEC funding. A principal goal of IPRIME is the engagement of industrial scientists and engineers in a pre-competitive, nonproprietary, and collaborative environment, so as to foster knowledge transfer with industry as a mutually beneficial two-way exchange of information. For more information on the UMN MRSEC industrial partnership with IPRIME, visit the IPRIME website.

Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (NSF PREM)

The Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) aims to enhance diversity in materials research and education. The MRSEC PREM builds and supports education and research collaborations between the University of Minnesota MRSEC and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), with the goal of broadening participation in materials science. The UTRGV-UMN PREM is funded by the National Science Foundation Award PREM DMR-2122178.

For more information about PREM, visit the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley PREM website.

International Collaborations

The MRSEC has developed multiple collaborations with prominent research centers and institutions worldwide; each IRG works closely with international partners on various aspects of IRG research. These collaborations are fueled by visits, exchanges, MRSEC-sponsored international workshops, etc.

The intended outcomes of these collaborations are: (i) memorable educational and career-building experiences for MRSEC-funded students; (ii) greater awareness of other social and scientific cultures in our future technical leaders, as is vital for future US competitiveness; (iii) technical collaborations that enhance IRG productivity and inform future research thrusts; and (iv) focused joint symposia/workshops.

IRG-1
Recent and planned international activities in IRG-1 include:

• A seminar series on Ionic Control of Materials
• Use of international facilities (for X-ray and neutron scattering, and various forms of spectroscopy)
• Hosted student and faculty visits and exchanges
• Numerous IRG-1 invited talks at international conferences and workshops
• Various IRG-1 faculty visits to international institutions

These efforts have led to collaborations with over a dozen international groups, in seven countries, resulting in 13 publications, from all IRG-1 senior investigators.

IRG-2
Recent and planned international activities in IRG-2 include:

• A seminar series on Molecular Designs of Mesoscale Network Materials and Their Applications
• Collaboration with Professor Adam M. Squires (Department of Chemistry, University of Bath, United Kingdom) on inorganic materials infilling by electrodeposition in nanoporous network phases for optical and catalysis applications
• IRG-2 invited talks and organizational roles at international conferences and workshops
• IRG-2 faculty visits to international institutions

National Lab Collaborations

IRG senior investigators, Ph.D. students and Postdoctoral Researchers collaborate extensively with national laboratories.

IRG-1
Recent and planned national lab collaborations in IRG-1 include:

• Operando probe development for electrolyte-gated materials (Including synchrotron X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, polarized neutron reflectometry, and magneto-optical Kerr spectroscopy)
• Materials characterization (Including synchrotron X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and hard X-ray photoemission spectroscopy)
• Materials synthesis (Particularly of layered superconducting chalcogenides)

These efforts involve the Advanced Photon Source (Argonne National Lab), the NIST Center for Neutron Research (National Institute of Standards and Technology), the Spallation Neutron Source (Oak Ridge National Lab), Los Alamos National Lab, and Brookhaven National Lab.

IRG-2
Recent and planned national lab collaborations in IRG-2 include materials characterization by:

• High-resolution, synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) in transmission and grazing-incidence modes
• Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS)
• Advisory roles at national user facility for materials synthesis and characterization

These efforts involve the Advanced Photon Source (Argonne National Lab), the National Synchrotron Light Source II (Brookhaven National Lab), the NIST Center for Neutron Research (National Institute of Standards and Technology), and the Center for Nanophase Materials.

Funded by the National Science Foundation through the University of Minnesota MRSEC under Award Number DMR-2011401