Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF)

DMREF seeks to foster the design, discovery, and development of materials to accelerate their path to deployment by harnessing the power of data and computational tools in concert with experiment and theory. DMREF emphasizes a deep integration of experiments, computation, and theory; the use of accessible digital data across the materials development continuum; and strengthening connections among theorists, computational scientists, data scientists, mathematicians, statisticians, and experimentalists as well as those from academia, industry, and government. DMREF is committed to the education and training of a next-generation materials research and development (R&D) workforce; well-equipped for successful careers as educators and innovators; and able to take full advantage of the materials development continuum and innovation infrastructures that NSF is creating through partnership with other federal and international agencies.

DMREF is the principal NSF program responsive to the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC’s) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Subcommittee on the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI). Over its inaugural decade, the MGI has driven a transformational paradigm shift in the philosophy of how materials research is performed. DMREF is supportive of the 2021 MGI Strategic Plan and its three primary goals, i.e., unifying the materials innovation infrastructure; harnessing the power of materials data; and educating, training, and connecting a world-class materials R&D workforce. 

DMREF will accordingly support activities that significantly accelerate the materials discovery-to-use timeline by building the fundamental knowledge base needed to advance the design, development, or manufacturability of materials with desirable properties or functionality. The 2021 MGI Strategic Plan re-envisioned the linear Materials Development Continuum described in the original Strategic Plan to promote integration and iteration of knowledge across the entire path to deployment. DMREF will undertake this challenge through building a vibrant research community, forming interdisciplinary teams to conduct research in a “closed-loop” fashion, leveraging data science and machine learning, providing ready access to materials data, and educating the future MGI workforce.

Application Instructions

Please submit as one combined pdf labeled with PI’s Lastname, Firstname:

1. A one‐page letter of intent with a description of proposed aims and approach.
2. If the final application requires a diversity statement or statement of broader impacts, please summarize your plans to address the specific requirements on an additional page.
3. CV (not biosketch) of the PI including past grant funding.

to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Wednesday, December 11, 2024. Proposals are due to the sponsor 2/4/2025 so you will need to have your materials in to the Office of Sponsored Programs by 1/24/2025 if given the go‐ahead by the Limited Submissions review committee.