November 3, 2004

National Science Foundation Picks UCSB for New International Center for Materials Research

Gail Gallessich

The University of California, Santa Barbara has been selected by the National Science Foundation to host a new center under the International Materials Institutes Program.

The International Center for Materials Research (ICMR) has received initial funding of $3.5 million over 5 years (from 2004 to 2009).

The mission of the center is to promote global excellence in materials science and engineering through a series of research and educational programs. The ICMR will provide an international forum that convenes scientists and engineers with common interests in the future of materials science.

It will implement a variety of international programs, including workshops, exchange programs, visitors programs and summer schools. Tony Cheetham, who directed UCSB's Materials Research Lab (MRL) for the past 12 years, is director of the ICMR.

He is supported by a local steering committee comprised of UCSB faculty members and an international advisory board (chaired by Professor C.N.R. Rao, president of the Third World Academy of Sciences).

The location of the ICMR at UC Santa Barbara takes advantage of UCSB's outstanding tradition in materials research.

The university is internationally recognized as a center of excellence in materials science. The outstanding materials programs at UCSB have led to a remarkable worldwide network of collaborations and other activities, not only between individual scientists but also at an institutional level.

The ICMR's partners at UCSB include the MRL, the UCSB Materials Department and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI). Along with UCSB collaborators, the center has the support of 16 partner institutions, including the International Center for Theoretical Physics and the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), both located in Trieste, Italy.

Other partner institutions are located in both the developing world (India, South Korea, Singapore, Mexico, Chile) and the developed world (Israel, Germany, Australia, France, Switzerland). These partnerships allow for the establishment of an ambitious international program.

One of the core activities of the ICMR is the organization of extended visitor programs of two to three month's duration at UCSB. These topical programs bring together materials scientists with common research interests and involve lectures, discussion sessions, and the opportunity to do experimental work with collaborating faculty at UCSB.

In addition, there will also be an annual summer program at UCSB in a specific area of materials science. The targeted audience is graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and young faculty members. ICMR can provide funding to facilitate the attendance of scientists from overseas, including developing countries. The lecturers include faculty members and researchers from UCSB and other institutions in the US and abroad.

The ICMR programs also include several thematic overseas workshops.

There is a tradition in the UCSB-MRL of participating in workshops with overseas institutions. Since 1995 there have been 18 overseas workshops, each involving about 10 -- 15 faculty from UCSB and other US institutions.

Many of these workshops have been bilateral, but others have focused on developing countries and have been undertaken with partner institutions.

Five workshops are currently being planned for 2004 -- 2005. They will be held at the following locations:

Pune, India: December 19-21

Kyoto, Japan: April 25 -- 27,

2005 in partnership with MC-CAM

Berlin, Germany: September 11-14, 2005 in partnership with the Max Planck Society

Beijing, China: Spring 2005 in partnership with the NSFC

South America: Spring 2005

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.