MIT will host and lead a new National Science Foundation Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) backed by $18 million over six years, the university confirmed on 12 August 2026. The award unites 16 research groups across nine departments and four institutions to advance materials for medical imaging, sustainable metals production and next-generation semiconductors.
Two research thrusts
The center, directed by Associate Professor Rafael Jaramillo of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering with Professor Caroline Ross as associate director, will pursue two flagship programmes. The first re-engineers nanoscale scintillators — the materials that convert X-rays into visible light — to improve resolution and lower radiation dose for medical, industrial and security imaging. The second explores high-temperature sulphur-based molten materials to transform how critical metals such as copper are refined and how thin-film semiconductors are grown.
New shared MRSEC facility
Part of the funding will stand up a new shared laboratory for testing magnetic materials and materials under extreme conditions, managed by MIT.nano and open to academic and industry users. Collaborating institutions named in the proposal include Yale University, UC Santa Barbara and the Department of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Part of a $108M NSF push
MIT's MRSEC is one of six centers backed by a $108 million NSF investment announced on 30 July that also spans AI-driven laboratories and hybrid quantum materials. "The long-term goal is for the broader materials and engineering community to see the disruptive potential of bringing researchers together across disciplines," Jaramillo said. "Entirely new things will be possible that aren't considered possible today."
The MRSEC extends nearly 60 years of interdisciplinary materials research at MIT and will also fund outreach — including a program called DISASTER! that examines historic material failures such as the Titanic's brittle rivets and the de Havilland Comet's metal fatigue.
Reporting based on coverage from MIT News and the National Science Foundation.