African Americans represent 98 percent of the minority population in Mississippi and 37 percent of its citizens, giving it the highest concentration per capita of this minority group in the nation. As an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and the only urban university in Mississippi, the Jackson State University (JSU) PREM (Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials) has a unique opportunity to attract and retain African Americans students in Materials Science and Engineering research and education. JSU-PREM Program in its partnership with the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC), will provide opportunities for participants historically underrepresented in STEM to become next generation materials scientists through innovative research and education in emerging research areas.

The PREM program will develop a multi-institutional, interdisciplinary research team to solve daily life problems by creating innovative materials using quantum and smart soft material-based technology. The partnership will provide participants from JSU and other local Mississippi Universities, community colleges, and K-12 schools the opportunity to acquire a comprehensive STEM education with components ranging from materials research experiences at UCSB or JSU to formal and informal lessons, conferences with world renowned scientists and nano-exhibitions. An anticipated far-reaching and lasting effect of the current PREM project is its impact on training and mentoring of African American students in areas of research that have excellent long-term job prospects. This project is partially supported with co-funding from the HBCU-UP program in the Division of Equity for Excellence in STEM (EES) in the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU).

The materials research objectives of the project include development and application of new materials, leveraging cutting-edge world class research capabilities and a highly collaborative research environment shared by JSU and UCSB members. JSU-UCSB PREM will provide intellectually stimulating research and educational experiences for underrepresented graduate and undergraduate students in the collaborative material science projects by bringing together a group of interdisciplinary faculty members from JSU and UCSB. The proposed partnership will foster innovation by creating cognitive models, facilitation techniques and smart technologies through theory-experiment-coupled research and development of new materials, addressing critical societal and environmental concerns.

This PREM will create a number of robust collaborative research groups in emerging research topics focusing on the NSF Big Ideas. Research groups will be composed of JSU and UCSB faculty members who, with their students, form a highly cohesive team of researchers able to investigate fundamental scientific questions and pathways to reach significant technological goals that can only be properly explored in a collaborative, multidisciplinary mode. The partnership will allow the development of JSU as a center of excellence in advanced quantum and soft materials research while significantly broadening participation in educational and outreach activities at UCSB.