Overview

Material advances today are the basis for most technological changes. Materials science encompasses a variety of research activities in which advanced materials are tailored for specific uses. The structure of materials and its relation to macroscopically observed properties forms a central research focal point.

Materials research at the University of Rochester involves high impact, complex materials challenges, ranging from chemical synthesis and novel processing approaches, to specialized characterization tools and innovative applications.

The main areas of materials research focus at Rochester are:

• Biomedical materials
• Materials for energy harvesting and storage
• Materials under extreme conditions
• Processing, manufacturing, scale-up
• Quantum materials
• Sustainable materials

The materials research infrastructure is supported by numerous shared research facilities across the University’s campuses, including:

• URNano
• Chemistry Materials Characterization Facility
• Materials Lab
• Biophysics and Biochemistry Core Facility

These shared facilities include state-of-the-art microscopy tools, lithographic capabilities, SEM, AFM, NMR, FTIR, femtosecond and picosecond transient absorption and luminescence, mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF, GC-MS, LC-MS), XPS, circular dichroism, and surface analysis (UPS, Auger, Inverse photoemission, EELS).

Individual research groups are also well equipped with instrumentation for materials science research, and the collaborative nature of research at the University of Rochester means most of these tools are available to all materials science students and researchers.

Interdisciplinary Research

Our materials science program benefits from the interdisciplinary environment and mindset at the University of Rochester. This allows our faculty and students to explore different facets of cross-departmental research in materials. Our faculty and research spans multiple departments, institutes, and laboratories, including the:

• Department of Biomedical Engineering 
• Department of Chemical Engineering
• Department of Mechanical Engineering 
• Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Institute of Optics
• Department of Biology
• Department of Chemistry 
• Department of Physics and Astronomy
• Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences 
• Department of Dermatology 
• Department of Microbiology and Immunology
• Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics