Time and time again, "multidisciplinary" research is touted as essential to innovation. That is why, from April 22-26, 2019, researchers working in seemingly unrelated fields will gather in Phoenix, Arizona, to promote, share and discuss issues and developments across disciplines. The 2019 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit is the key forum to present research to an interdisciplinary and international audience. It provides a window on the future of materials science, and offers an opportunity for researchers—from students and postdoctoral fellows, to Nobel and Kavli Prize Laureates—to exchange technical information and network with colleagues.

The call for papers for 59 different symposia is now out.

Abstracts will be accepted September 28-October 31, 2018.

The symposia will be grouped into six topical clusters, as follows:

Broader Impact – This cluster features one symposia that addresses increasing ethic and gender diversification in engineering education.

Characterization, Processing and Theory – This cluster features nine symposia dedicated to a wide range of materials and applications. Special focus will be on advanced nanoscale characterization and in situ investigations of materials, novel materials design and the role of interfaces as well as advances in modeling and simulation across length scales.

Electronics and Photonics – This cluster features 13 symposia divided into two sub-clusters. One sub-cluster will focus on soft, stretchable electronics with symposia addressing the fundamentals of the materials systems, assembly and fabrication, applications exemplified through functional circuits, interfaces with electronic and photonic devices and systems, including considerations for bio-friendly electronics. The other sub-cluster will focus symposia on the latest developments in electronic, photonic devices, plasmonics, metamaterials, phase-change materials and thermoelectrics. They will also cover new developments in applications involving memory, neuromorphic computing, and advanced approaches for interconnects relevant to the extension of the CMOS roadmap.   

Energy and Sustainability – This cluster features 21 symposia that address the challenges, opportunities, and technologies related to energy materials, devices, and systems. This cluster will comprise sub-clusters of Energy Storage; Catalysis, Alternative Energy and Fuels; Water-Energy-Materials and Sustainability; and Photovoltaics and Energy Harvesting. Specific topical areas include perovskite and novel semiconductors, batteries, capacitive devices, fuel cells, electrochemical systems, solar fuels, as well as advanced concepts for materials design, circular economy, and water-energy nexus.

Quantum and Nanomaterials – This cluster features eight symposia dedicated to a wide range of nanoscale science and technologies, including the characterization, properties and applications of 2D materials, thermal materials and heat transport as well as quantum information and quantum phenomena. Many of the symposia will organize joint sessions to further strengthen the synergies and advance novel materials development.

Soft Materials and Biomaterials – This cluster features eight symposia in this broad interdisciplinary cluster. Key topics include materials for biological and medical application, progress in supermolecular nanotheranostics, next-generation materials with synthetic biology, translational materials in medicine-prosthetics, sensors and smart scaffolds, supermolecular biomaterials for regenerative medicine and drug delivery, nano and microgels, and bioinspired materials-from basic discovery to biomimicry. This cluster also has great synergy with bioelectronics covered in electronic clusters.

Symposium X – Frontiers of Materials Research will feature presentations aimed at a broad audience and on topics at the forefront of research on materials science and engineering.

To complement the symposia, tutorials will provide detailed information on particularly exciting areas of research and the Exhibit will showcase products and services of interest to the scientific community.  The Meeting, Exhibits and Posters will be located at the Phoenix Convention Center.