News

PREM student Melody Fernandez spent the summer conducting research at the University of Washington in the laboratory of chemistry professor Brandi Cossairt, under the mentorship of Ezra Bacon-Gershman. Her work focused on synthesizing nanocrystalline materials with unique spin and magnetic properties.

The UPR-PENN PREM program celebrates the legacy of Dr. Luz J. Martínez-Miranda (1956-2026), a prominent Puerto Rican scientist specialized in the study of liquid crystals and their interactions with nanoparticles.

Nazwa Chowdhury, a graduate student in the PREM Center for Intelligent Materials Assembly (CIMA) program at Texas State University, has been selected as a finalist in the university’s 2026 Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition through the People's Choice category in the Gold Group.

The Center for Materials Innovation at Michigan hosted the 2026 Conference Across MRSEC and PREM Schools (CAMPS) at the University of Michigan campus. The conference included 92 students from more than 20 PREM and MRSEC centers from all over the nation.

Three undergraduate researchers at Texas State University's NSF PREM Center for Intelligent Materials Assembly (CIMA) have received Undergraduate Research Fellowships to support projects exploring potential applications in nerve regeneration, cancer treatment, and quantum technologies.

PREM students, faculty, and PIs came together at the 2026 MRS Spring Meeting in Honolulu to share research, strengthen connections, and explore new opportunities for collaboration across the network. Those conversations are now helping shape an expanded PREM student presence at the MRS Fall Meeting in Boston.

Students from across the MRSEC and PREM communities came together at the University of Michigan for CAMPS 2026, a student-led conference featuring research presentations, poster sessions, career conversations, lab tours and opportunities to build connections across institutions.

PREM Day brought students and faculty from Texas State, UT Austin, NAU, and Pasadena City College together for lab tours, research exchange, career conversations, and connections across the PREM community.

The Texas State PREM Center for Intelligent Materials Assembly (CIMA) hosted students from regional elementary, middle and high schools in several STEM tours to our campus.

The National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) fosters long-term collaborations between universities and NSF’s Division of Materials Research (DMR)-supported centers. It enhances research opportunities through faculty and student exchanges, student mentoring and professional development.