The scientific focus of the MIP program is subject to change from competition to competition. Information about the existing MIPs, from two previous competitions in 2015 and 2019, can be found at mip.org. The third MIP competition, in 2025, will accept proposals on alloys, amorphous, and composite materials.

Imagine charging your smartphone once a month, having flexible video screens that you can roll up into your pocket, and sending information through an internet that uses quantum mechanics to keep your data safe. The 2DCC MIP is working on advancing materials that can contribute to these ideas. Learn all about the platform’s ongoing research and efforts.

A new fusion of materials, each with special electrical properties, has all the components required for a unique type of superconductivity that could provide the basis for more robust quantum computing. The new combination of materials, created by a team led by researchers at Penn State, could also provide a platform to explore physical behaviors similar to those of mysterious, theoretical particles known as chiral Majoranas, which could be another promising component for quantum computing.

There’s a new shared-use electron microscope at UCLA for investigators seeking to elucidate the atomic structures of bio-sourced monomers and small molecules. The NSF’s BioPACIFIC MIP now offers access to its ThermoFisher Scientific Spectra 300C transmission electron microscope (TEM) housed at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.

The BioPACIFIC MIP X-ray Diffraction Platform features an unparalleled laboratory SAXS-WAXS (small- and wide-angle x-ray scattering) beamline for high-throughput characterization of biopolymers and nanostructures. Custom-developed by a research team at UCSB, the new X-Ray instrument offers performance level comparable to a second-generation synchrotron but on a benchtop instrument, to help scientists elucidate materials structure in the nano- and meso-scale.

BioPACIFIC MIP co-Director Prof. Javier Read de Alaniz has been awarded the 2023 American Chemical Society Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, sponsored by the Arthur C. Cope Fund, in recognition and encouragement of excellence in organic chemistry.

BioPACIFIC MIP has added two new printers to the Additive Manufacturing facility at UC Santa Barbara. Both printers are accessible at no cost through the BioPACIFIC MIP User Program and proposal process.

A research partnership between Penn State and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) could enable an improved method to make a new type of semiconductor that is a few atoms thin and interacts with light in an unusual way. This new semiconductor could lead to new computing and communications technologies that use lower amounts of energy than current electronics.

The U.S. National Science Foundation funds fundamental research to enhance U.S. competitiveness, economy, and people's lives. The Materials Innovation Platforms (MIPs) program was initiated in 2015 in response to national needs in mid-scale research infrastructure for accelerating materials research. "Materials Innovations Platforms represent a new modality for supporting scientific research," says Linda Sapochak, director of the Division of Materials Research at NSF. "The MIP program provides the required infrastructure made available to a diverse set of stakeholders to support transdisciplinary research and training, to provide broad access to cutting-edge tools, and to facilitate data and knowledge sharing in key enabling areas of national priority."

Johns Hopkins' groundbreaking bulk crystal growth facility, part of one of four materials innovation platforms supported by the National Science Foundation, has received a $5 million renewal grant that will allow scientists to continue designing and creating new materials there for the next generation of electronic devices.