Materials Research Science and Engineering Center

Research

The Brandeis Materials Research in Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) funds research within Interdisciplinary Research Groups.

Highlights of IRG research are reported on an ongoing basis to the NSF MRSEC program.

The research is organized into two Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) composed of Brandeis faculty who, with their students and postdoctoral associates, investigate fundamental scientific questions and pathways to reach significant technological goals that can only be properly explored in a collaborative, multidisciplinary mode. These problems are too large in scope to be addressed by individual faculty members and their students. The research goals and accomplishments are reviewed regularly so that appropriate adjustments can be made to insure the quality of the Center's research effort. The current active Brandeis MRSEC IRGs are IRG 1 Self-Limiting Assembly and IRG 2 Soft Active Materials.

Publications supported by Brandeis MRSEC’s research

Interdisciplinary Research Groups

Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) are composed of Brandeis faculty who, with their students and postdoctoral associates, investigate fundamental scientific questions and pathways to reach significant technological goals that can only be properly explored in a collaborative, multidisciplinary mode. These problems are too large in scope to be addressed by individual faculty members and their students. The research goals and accomplishments are reviewed regularly so that appropriate adjustments can be made to insure the quality of the Center's research effort.

IRG 1 Self-Limiting Assembly

• Research Vision and Plan: While living systems routinely achieve size-controlled assembly, synthetic approaches lag far behind. IRG1: Self-Limiting Assembly adopts a bioinspired approach to develop a suite of building blocks which undergo equilibrium self-assembly that self-terminates at tunable finite-sized structures without requiring external control. 
• Group Leaders: Michael Hagan and Ben Rogers

IRG 2 Soft Active Materials

• Research Vision and Plan: To transform materials science by developing controllable far-from-equilibrium materials that crawl, flow, swim and walk, and thus mimic essential traits of living biological organisms.
• Group Leader: Seth Fraden and Guillaume Duclos