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Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) for the NSF MRSEC Program

OR&I is actively accepting applications for this internal competition. If you are interested in applying to this program, you must submit a pre-application through the internal competitions submission portal. Pre-application requirements are listed in the announcement below.

The Office for Research & Innovation invites applications for Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs) for the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC) program. The MRSEC program provides sustained support of materials research and education of the highest quality while addressing fundamental problems in science and engineering. A MRSEC may be located at a single institution, or may involve multiple institutions in partnership, and is composed of two to three Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs), each addressing a fundamental materials science topic. Stony Brook University can submit ONE MRSEC preliminary proposal as the lead institution, and it must contain a minimum of two IRGs and a maximum of three IRGs. Three IRGs will be selected to move forward with the NSF submission.

Please see below for details. If you are interested in applying as an IRG, you must submit the internal competitions form by Thursday, March 20, 2025. Pre-applications for internal review and selection must be uploaded to the portal as a single PDF document. The competition code for this program is LC20255. 

WHAT DOES IT FUND: MRSECs support multidisciplinary materials research and education of the highest quality while addressing fundamental problems in materials science of a scope and complexity requiring the scale and synergy provided by a campus-based research center. The IRGs in a Center may be thematically related, or they may address different aspects of materials research typically supported by DMR.

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS: No restrictions or limits

AWARD: Approximately $3 million/year for a 2-IRG MRSEC to a maximum of $4.5 million/year for a 3-IRG MRSEC

SPONSOR DEADLINE: Preliminary proposal (required) due June 23, 2025; Full proposal (by invitation only) due November 24, 2025

A complete pre-application should comprise of the following:

  • A description of the IRG (no more than three pages) that includes:
    • A list of faculty-level participants;
    • The numbers of undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers to be included in the IRG; and
    • The long-term research goals and intellectual focus, and outline the planned research activities. The need for an interactive, interdisciplinary approach involving several investigators, and the means of achieving this, should be clearly established.
  • Bio Sketch for the lead participant of the IRG
  • Current or past NSF funding for the faculty-level participants (no page limit)

The Office for Research & Innovation will be hosting the next segment of our NSF MRSEC series, the NSF MRSEC IRG Seed Grant Presentation event, on Friday, February 7, 2025 from 2:30 to 5 pm in room 301 at the Charles B. Wang Center. At this event, MRSEC Seed Grant Program awardees will make a 5 minute presentation to share their progress. If you are planning a submission to this internal competition, we highly recommend attending this event and presenting your MRSEC IRG concept with the broader material science research community, including colleagues from BNL. Register for the event by February 4, 2025.