Science Policy
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MRSEC Report Calls for More Funding Downward funding trends are threatening the competitiveness of the National Science Foundation’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs). Since its creation in 1994, the MRSEC program has enabled excellent, cutting-edge research. But according to a new report, the program needs to be restructured to remain effective in a changing budget and research landscape. Since 1994, the requirements for MRSEC-funded projects have grown, but average funding for centers has declined by up to 10% in inflation-adjusted dollars. The cost of supporting graduate students has risen dramatically over the last 10 years, while the MRSEC mean grant size has not. MRSEC funding for maintaining and building instrumentation required for frontier research has not kept pace either. “The MRSEC program produces excellent materials science, especially in catalyzing the conception of new research programs,” said Matthew Tirrell, chair of the MRSEC Impact Assessment Committee which authored the report. But he continued, “There has been a growth of responsibilities attached to MRSECs, without a parallel growth of funding, to the point that, MRSECs cannot stretch their budgets to meet all of their new responsibilities well.” Continued funding declines will have serious consequences. “Another decade of similar decreases will undermine the ability of the MRSEC program to make future valuable contributions,” the committee wrote in the report. The report presents the results of a study conducted by the National Research Council at NSF’s request. NSF asked for an assessment of the MRSEC program’s performance and impact, and for recommendations on what its role should be in the future. Data was gathered through MRSEC site visits, telephone interviews, questionnaires, and studies of publications and citations. “It’s clear from the report that the MRSEC program has important impacts on materials research and education, experimental facilities, public outreach, industrial collaboration, and technology transfer,” said Lance Haworth, Acting Director of the Division of Materials Research for the National Science Foundation (NSF). “It’s also clear that the resources provided by NSF must keep pace with the performance and achievements expected from individual MRSECs.” The report suggests that the MRSEC program might better facilitate advances in research by focusing on specific objectives 758
and allowing individual centers to capitalize on their strengths. They suggest creating a two-tiered funding program under the NSF Division of Materials Research (DMR). One funding mechanism, the Materials Centers of Excellence (MCEs), would support groups of interdisciplinary researchers, education and outreach activities, industry relations, and state-of-the-art facilities. The second mechanism, Materials Research Groups, would support interdisciplinary groups engaged in research only. These groups would not have separately mandated education and industrial activities or facilities responsibilities. The value-added ac
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