![](media/image1.png){width="7.147222222222222in"
height="9.995833333333334in"}

+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| # HARVARD UNIVERSITY           | ## DIVISION                         |
|                                | OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCES |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| **217A PIERCE HALL**           | #### OFFICE OF THE DEAN             |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| **29 OXFORD STREET**           | #####                               |
|                                | TEL. 617-495-5829; FAX 617-495-9837 |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| **CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS     | **E-MAIL**:                         |
| 02138**                        | *venky**\@deas.harvard.edu***       |
+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

> April 29, 2002

Professor Bill Joe Evans

LS & A Chemistry Department

2819 Chemistry 1055

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Dear Professor Evans,

On behalf of the 2002 Committee of Visitors (COV) for the Division of
Materials Research (CMR) of the National Science Foundation (NSF), I am
pleased to send the attached detailed findings on the core questions and
report template.

This letter is intended to summarize some of the key observations and
findings.

1.  [Overall Findings:]{.underline} We would like to commend the
    Division and its program directors for running an outstanding
    program consistent with broad national and NSF objectives in all
    areas vis-à-vis People, Ideas and Tools. The DMR and MPS management
    clearly responded to the issues raised by the last COV and
    considerable progress was noted in the area of merit review
    criteria, particularly of criteria II, use of which has steadily
    increased. We continue to find the Program Directors (PD's)
    overworked and were pleased to note that two additional slots have
    been authorized. The size and duration of awards have shown
    improvement over the last three years and we urge continued emphasis
    in this area so that the goal of median (not mean) grant size of
    \$130,000 to \$150,000 a year over four years is attained as soon as
    possible.

2.  [Balance of Programs:]{.underline} The DMR has basically two major
    pieces: (1) individual investigators and small groups (3 PI's or
    less) and; (2) large centers and instrumentation facilities. We did
    not have time to look at the balance between the individual
    investigator/ small group activities vs. the larger initiatives and
    centers. We believe this balance should be looked at carefully by
    the next COV. In the meantime, we hope that all efforts will be made
    to make sure that individual investigators/small group awards are
    not squeezed in relation to other major national initiatives. At the
    same time, we would like to express our enthusiastic support for the
    increasing levels of interdisciplinary and collaborative programs in
    DMR.

3.  [Director's Reserve Fund:]{.underline} We were generally very
    pleased with the usage of the Director's Reserve Fund as a means to
    foster the broader goals of the foundation, to fund higher risk
    multi-disciplinary projects, to grow the size of awards, to
    encourage diversity and to enhance the coupling of education and
    research

4.  [Staffing Issues:]{.underline} As mentioned in the overall findings,
    the workload for the PD's is very high. With the growth of
    interdisciplinary programs and collaborations this workload is
    further exacerbated. We recommend that further attention be paid to
    providing adequate staffing levels in DMR from the highest
    management of the foundation. Even though the policy of rotation of
    PD's is a good one, the ceramics area has suffered from high
    turnover. Providing stability for this area is important. We also
    note that one or two minority members amongst the PD's are likely to
    leave soon due to the policy of rotation. Given the small pool of
    candidates, we feel it is important that extra effort be made to
    maintain diversity amongst the PD's in DMR.

5.  [PD Judgment:]{.underline} We were generally pleased to note how
    carefully the Program Directors had documented the rationale for
    funding. The peer review system can sometimes lead to very
    conservative modes of funding. In evolving scientific areas with
    high risk, this judgment has to be provided by the PD after input
    from reviewers and PI's. We found positive evidence for funding by
    program directors for higher risk projects. We encourage this trend.

6.  [Reviewer Pool:]{.underline} We are concerned with the small number
    of industrial and national lab reviewers (\~ 5%). As detailed in the
    report, we recommend that special efforts be made to enlarge this
    pool.

7.  [COV Process:]{.underline} The Division of the review panel into 3
    major clusters (Basic Sciences, Centers and Facilities, and
    Materials) was generally viewed with favor. However, the very strict
    interpretations of the Foundation's rules on COI greatly complicated
    this review and in some regards made it less effective than it might
    otherwise have been. If our expertise could not be used in its most
    effective way in the context of the COV review, one worries this
    limitation must effect other major evaluations and reviews
    undertaken by the NSF. Some method has to be found to relax these
    very burdensome constraints. There are also other detailed
    suggestions for improvement in the COV process in section B6.

I hope the above will be helpful to you in further enhancing the vital
role DMR and NSF play in funding materials research at our universities.

Yours truly,

> ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="1.7222222222222223in"
> height="0.4618055555555556in"}
>
> V. Narayanamurti
>
> John A. & Elizabeth S. Armstrong Professor of Engineering and Applied
> Sciences and Dean, and Professor of Physics
>
> Chair of the 2002 COV for DMR

VN/mcf

Attachment

##### CORE QUESTIONS and REPORT TEMPLATE

#####  for 

##### FY 2002 NSF COMMITTEE OF VISITOR (COV) REVIEWS

**Guidance to NSF Staff:** This document includes the FY 2002 set of
Core Questions and the COV Report Template for use by NSF staff when
preparing and conducting COVs during FY 2002. Specific guidance for NSF
staff describing the COV review process is described in the recently
revised Subchapter 300-Committee of Visitors Reviews (NSF Manual 1,
Section VIII) which can be obtained at
http://www.inside.nsf.gov/od/gpra/.

NSF relies on the judgment of external experts to maintain high
standards of program management, to provide advice for continuous
improvement of NSF performance, and to ensure openness to the research
and education community served by the Foundation. Committee of Visitor
(COV) reviews provide NSF with external expert judgments in two areas:
(1) assessments of the quality and integrity of program operations and
program-level technical and managerial matters pertaining to proposal
decisions; and (2) the degree to which the outputs and outcomes
generated by awardees have contributed to the attainment of NSF's
mission, strategic goals, and annual performance goals.

The Core Questions developed for FY 2002 are a basic set of questions
that NSF must respond to as a whole when reporting to Congress and OMB
as required by GPRA. The questions are derived from the OMB approved FY
2002 performance goals and apply to the portfolio of activities
represented in the program(s) under review. The program(s) under review
may include several subactivities as well as NSF-wide activities. The
directorate or division may instruct the COV to provide answers
addressing a cluster or group of programs - a portfolio of activities
integrated as a whole- or to provide answers specific to the
subactivities of the program-with the latter requiring more time but
providing more detailed information.

The Division or Directorate may choose to add questions relevant to the
activities under review. *Not all core questions are relevant to all
programs*. NSF staff should work with the COV members in advance of the
meeting to provide them with organized background materials and to
identify questions/goals that apply to the program(s) under review. NSF
staff should help COVs to focus on questions or goals that apply to the
program under review, and avoid questions which do not apply.

**Guidance to the COV:** The COV report should provide a balanced
assessment of NSF's performance in two primary areas: (A) the integrity
and efficiency of the ***processes*** which involve proposal review; and
(B) the quality of the ***results*** of NSF's investments in the form of
outputs and outcomes which appear over time. The COV also explores the
relationships between award decisions and program/NSF-wide goals in
order to determine the likelihood that the portfolio will lead to the
desired results in the future. Discussions leading to answers for Part A
of the Core Questions will require study of confidential material such
as declined proposals and reviewer comments. *COV reports should not
contain confidential material or specific information about declined
proposals**.*** Discussions leading to answers for Part B of the Core
Questions will involve study of non-confidential material such as
results of NSF-funded projects. It is important to recognize that the
reports generated by COVs are used in assessing agency progress in
meeting government required reporting of performance, and are made
available to the public.

Clear justifications for goal ratings are critical -- ratings without
justifications are not useful for agency reporting purposes. Specific
examples of NSF supported results illustrating goal achievement or
significant impact in an area should be cited in the COV report, with a
brief explanation of the broader significance for each. Areas of program
weakness should be identified. *COV members are encouraged to provide
feedback to NSF on how to improve in all areas, as well as the COV
process, format, and questions.*

##### FY 2002 REPORT TEMPLATE FOR

#####  NSF COMMITTEES OF VISITORS (COVs)

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ##### Date of COV: [April 10-12, 2002]{.underline}                    |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Program/Cluster: DMR-merged clusters**                              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Division: DMR**                                                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Directorate: MPS**                                                  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Number of actions reviewed by COV: 200**                            |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

**PART A. INTEGRITY AND EFFICIENCY OF THE PROGRAM'S PROCESSES AND
MANAGEMENT**

Briefly discuss and provide comments for *each* relevant aspect of the
program\'s review process and management. Comments should be based on a
review of proposal actions (awards, declinations, and withdrawals) that
were *completed within the past three fiscal years*. Provide comments
for *each* program being reviewed and for those questions that are
relevant to the program under review. Quantitative information may be
required for some questions. Constructive comments noting areas in need
of improvement are encouraged. Please do not take time to answer
questions if they do not apply to the program.

A.1 Questions about the quality and effectiveness of the program's use
of merit review procedures. Provide comments in the space below the
question. Discuss areas of concern in the space below the table.

+-----------------------------------------------------------+----------+
| **QUALITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF MERIT REVIEW PROCEDURES**  | **YES,   |
|                                                           | NO, or** |
|                                                           |          |
|                                                           | **DATA   |
|                                                           | NOT      |
|                                                           | AVA      |
|                                                           | ILABLE** |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+----------+
| Is the review mechanism appropriate? (panels, ad hoc      | **Yes**  |
| reviews, site visits)                                     |          |
|                                                           |          |
| Comments:                                                 |          |
|                                                           |          |
| The cluster reviews embrace the full range of appropriate |          |
| methods and draw broadly from the range of disciplines    |          |
| impacted by the program's research activities. The        |          |
| reviewers selected are a diverse group in terms of        |          |
| geography, gender, and background.                        |          |
|                                                           |          |
| MRSEC's have an extensive, multi-step review process      |          |
| starting with a pre-proposal stage (93 pre proposals, 13  |          |
| of those from existing centers). Mail reviews were used   |          |
| to narrow this pool to 30 asked to submit full proposals  |          |
| for which 20 were asked to present at a reverse site      |          |
| visit, and from which 15 were funded (one of the 15 is a  |          |
| combination of 2 proposals from the same institution).    |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+----------+
| Is the review process efficient and effective?            | **Yes**  |
|                                                           |          |
| Comments:                                                 |          |
|                                                           |          |
| The significant workload of the program is well handled   |          |
| by the responsible program directors. The COV has high    |          |
| praise for the discharge of this responsibility. The      |          |
| reviews are assigned and completed in a timely way and    |          |
| the documentation of program actions is complete and      |          |
| clear. Turn around times range from as little as four     |          |
| months to as much as eight. The PDs are doing a very good |          |
| job to make the six-month target of the Foundation on the |          |
| vast majority of proposals.                               |          |
|                                                           |          |
| The MRSEC evaluations are a fairly long process (about 10 |          |
| months including acceptance by the DRB), it is efficient  |          |
| at each of the review steps (pre proposals and then full  |          |
| proposals with the latter having mail in reviews,         |          |
| downsizing and reverse site visits. The process is        |          |
| defective at locating centers of low performance in an    |          |
| early stage ((ASU #9987680 PI Sankey, Otto and U of       |          |
| Houston #9987673 PI: Jacobson, Allan) and bringing new    |          |
| proposed centers of high quality into the existing MRSEC  |          |
| portfolio (Penn State #00890019 PI: Chan, Moses) as well  |          |
| as encouraging competition and excellence by the existing |          |
| centers because PI's understand that they will be         |          |
| recompeting with a large group.                           |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+----------+
| Is the time to decision appropriate?                      | **Yes**  |
|                                                           |          |
| Comments:                                                 |          |
|                                                           |          |
| The performance of the Division in this area is well      |          |
| above the directorate norm and stands as a significant    |          |
| point of administrative merit.                            |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+----------+
| Is the documentation for recommendations complete?        | **Yes**  |
|                                                           |          |
| Comments:                                                 |          |
|                                                           |          |
| The documentation records are complete. The COV commends  |          |
| the staff for the clarity and organization of the         |          |
| administrative case files.                                |          |
|                                                           |          |
| For the observed MRSEC actions the documentation in the   |          |
| jackets reflects all the outside review comments, the     |          |
| various panel recommendations and PD comments at          |          |
| appropriate stages. The resulting funding profile appears |          |
| to reflect the priorities set by the panels with regards  |          |
| to High Priority, 2^nd^ priority and do not fund as       |          |
| reflected in the jackets reviewed.                        |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+----------+
| Are reviews consistent with priorities and criteria       | **Yes**  |
| stated in the program's solicitations, announcements, and |          |
| guidelines?                                               |          |
|                                                           |          |
| Comments:                                                 |          |
|                                                           |          |
| The overwhelming majority (well over 95 %) were clearly   |          |
| evaluated in a manner consistent with the review criteria |          |
| of the program. A few cases were noted where senior       |          |
| investigators with significant past records of            |          |
| accomplishment were evaluated by the reviewers more on    |          |
| the basis of that record rather than on the content of    |          |
| the proposal.                                             |          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+----------+

Discuss issues identified by the COV concerning the quality and
effectiveness of the program's use of merit review procedures:

The COV is highly impressed with the quality and effectiveness of the
merit review procedures used. The high level of professional competence
displayed in the discharge of this responsibility is made all the more
impressive by the fact that the PDs labor under an almost unimaginable
workload. The steps taken to redress this problem at the division level
are timely and necessary.

The COV also noted that the reviews of large facilities such as the
NHFML involved specialized procedures that were appropriate to the
special character of that facility.

A. 2 Questions concerning the implementation of the NSF Merit Review
Criteria (intellectual merit and broader impacts) by reviewers and
program officers. Provide comments in the space below the question.
Discuss issues or concerns in the space below the table. (Provide
fraction of total reviews for each question)

  ---------------------------------------------------------- ------------
  **IMPLEMENTATION OF NSF MERIT REVIEW CRITERIA**            **%
                                                             REVIEWS**

  What percentage of *reviews* address the [intellectual     95%
  merit]{.underline} criterion?                              

  What percentage of *reviews* address the [broader          58%
  impacts]{.underline} criterion?                            

  What percentage of *review analyses* (Form 7's) comment on 100%
  aspects of the [intellectual merit]{.underline} criterion? 

  What percentage of *review analyses* (Form 7's) comment on 85%
  aspects of the [broader impacts]{.underline} criterion?    
  ---------------------------------------------------------- ------------

Discuss any concerns the COV has identified with respect to NSF's merit
review system.

Mail reviews for investigator awards reflected varied attention and
interpretations of the term "broader impact." Panel reviews reflected
more attention and clarification, presumably as a result of input from
program officers. COV panel members felt that it would be useful to
explore ways of providing such clarification to mail reviewers.

The discussion of criterion II by the reviewers is clearly on an upward
trend. The COV notes that the earliest year of the three year review
constitutes a time before responses by Fastlane had been fully
integrated: the compliance by reviewers during this time was rather
poor. This is improvement noted as a result of the new methods
(Fastlane) used to collect proposal reviews. The PDs have followed the
trends of the reviewer population and have embraced evaluations on both
metrics in the form of a composite evaluation of the case on Form 7.

The MRSEC evaluation process has been very effective in eliciting
detailed evaluations along both technical/intellectual and broader
impact dimensions.

A.3 Questions concerning the selection of reviewers. Provide comments in
the space below the question. Discuss areas of concern in the space
below the table.

+---------------------------------------------------------+------------+
| Selection of Reviewers                                  | YES , NO   |
|                                                         |            |
|                                                         | Or DATA    |
|                                                         | NOT        |
|                                                         | AVAILABLE  |
+---------------------------------------------------------+------------+
| Did the program make use of an adequate number of       | Yes        |
| reviewers for a balanced review?                        |            |
|                                                         |            |
| Comments:                                               |            |
|                                                         |            |
| The majority of cases were decided based on 3 - 5       |            |
| reviews. This is an appropriate number. The             |            |
| distribution of numbers and length of reviews varied    |            |
| significantly across the cluster. The majority of the   |            |
| decisions (\>90%) are based on an adequate number of    |            |
| reviews.                                                |            |
|                                                         |            |
| 148 reviews were received for 30 full MRSEC proposals   |            |
| (almost 5/proposal) which is necessary for the MRSEC's, |            |
| which often have multiple and differently focused       |            |
| interdisciplinary research groups in addition to highly |            |
| developed educational and outreach plans. This is       |            |
| adequate given the distribution of site sizes (although |            |
| more reviewers is always better).                       |            |
+---------------------------------------------------------+------------+
| Did the program make use of reviewers having            | Yes        |
| appropriate expertise and/or qualifications?            |            |
|                                                         |            |
| Comments:                                               |            |
|                                                         |            |
| We note that the impact of the NSF's strict rules on    |            |
| COI make it very hard to maintain proper disciplinary   |            |
| coverage within areas on the COV. In this context it is |            |
| not possible to evaluate this point as fully as we      |            |
| would like; this is a significant weakness of the COV   |            |
| process.                                                |            |
|                                                         |            |
| For each MRSEC proposal, reviewers are chosen on the    |            |
| basis of their expertise distributed throughout all of  |            |
| the Interdisciplinary research groups (IRG's) which may |            |
| vary broadly in topic. A distribution of experiences    |            |
| with regard to educational and outreach activities is   |            |
| also sought. Additional criteria are applied to ensure  |            |
| geographical and ethnological diversity. The pool of    |            |
| includes a very large internal DMR database.            |            |
+---------------------------------------------------------+------------+
| Did the program make appropriate use of reviewers to    | Yes        |
| reflect balance among characteristics such as           |            |
| geography, type of institution, and underrepresented    |            |
| groups?                                                 |            |
|                                                         |            |
| Comments:                                               |            |
|                                                         |            |
| (See section A1.) The COV noted that the use of female  |            |
| reviewers varies widely across the areas of the         |            |
| cluster. The number of female respondents in CMP was    |            |
| very low (2 of 75 examined in one case) while the       |            |
| percentage used in the polymers program was closer to   |            |
| 20%. The MRSEC program fell in between these limits.    |            |
+---------------------------------------------------------+------------+
| Did the program recognize and resolve conflicts of      | Yes        |
| interest when appropriate?                              |            |
|                                                         |            |
| Comments:                                               |            |
|                                                         |            |
| Several examples were noted in the files of effective   |            |
| conflict resolution by the program directors. The NSF   |            |
| guidelines on COI appear to be well communicated to the |            |
| pool of reviewers.                                      |            |
+---------------------------------------------------------+------------+
| Did the program provide adequate documentation to       | Yes        |
| justify actions taken?                                  |            |
|                                                         |            |
| Comments:                                               |            |
|                                                         |            |
| (See section A1.) Overall, the case records are         |            |
| impeccably documented and the correspondence to PI's is |            |
| appropriate, effective and sensitive. The committee     |            |
| noted one program (metals) that was less comprehensive  |            |
| in constructing and documenting the case record.        |            |
+---------------------------------------------------------+------------+

Discuss any concerns identified that are relevant to selection of
reviewers in the space below.

The COV notes that the number of industrial and national laboratory
reviewers is quite low (\~5%) and declining. The pressures that lie
behind this trend are understood but it remains a point of concern that
efforts by the Foundation staff should be made to address. The MRSECs,
for example, could be used as one resource for fostering greater
participation of industrial scientists. Specific suggestions for
targeted reviewer populations could also be solicited from PIs via
Fastlane. It is also essential to grow the relevant pool of potential
female reviewers, while recognizing the dangers of overloading the
current, small pool of such reviewers.

The COV noted a specific exception existed in the review period with
respect to the Ceramics program. Lack of sufficient permanent staff (or
perhaps their distribution) in the Division may have contributed to some
of the problems seen in this program.

The reviews and evaluations of a special facility such as the NHFML
require some consideration. This facility replaced the Francis Bitters
National Magnet Laboratory at MIT. In the process, there was a severe
dislocation of many of the users, who were largely from the Northeast.
Under these circumstances, a more systematic consultation with the user
community should have been made. For a large user facility of this sort
the NSF review should more formally solicit input at the time of renewal
from the outside users of that facility. While the site review committee
did meet with the chair of the users committee, the site review report
does not mention the substance of that conversation at all, and
concludes that the community is well served simply by the number of
users and the scientific output of their investigations.

A.4 Questions concerning the resulting portfolio of awards under review.
Provide comments in the space below the question. Discuss areas of
concern in the space below the table.

+------------------------------------------------------+---------------+
| **RESULTING PORTFOLIO OF AWARDS**                    | **A           |
|                                                      | PPROPRIATE,** |
|                                                      |               |
|                                                      | **NOT         |
|                                                      | A             |
|                                                      | PPROPRIATE,** |
|                                                      |               |
|                                                      | **OR DATA NOT |
|                                                      | AVAILABLE**   |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------------+
| Overall quality of the research and/or education     | **            |
| projects supported by the program.                   | Appropriate** |
|                                                      |               |
| Comments:                                            |               |
|                                                      |               |
| Overall, the work supported by the division is world |               |
| class and absolutely at the cutting edge of          |               |
| research. The programs are a powerful and            |               |
| constructive force in shaping the educational        |               |
| environment of the nation.                           |               |
|                                                      |               |
| : MRSEC's represent a very broad and exciting range  |               |
| of research projects and focus on a complexity and   |               |
| interdisciplinarity that is not always possible with |               |
| a single PI award. For example, dmr-9632716, UCSB,   |               |
| PI: Cheetham have using genetically engineered       |               |
| proteins to catalyze the synthesis of new,           |               |
| environmentally friendly routes to the synthesis of  |               |
| high-performance silicon-based materials. This       |               |
| represents a nice example of biological synthesis to |               |
| both develop green chemistry and solid-state         |               |
| materials.                                           |               |
|                                                      |               |
| In addition, the MRSEC's are charged and have        |               |
| responded with a wide range of human development     |               |
| tools and activities to create a diverse, globally   |               |
| oriented SMET workforce. The portfolio of funded     |               |
| activities include the development of research       |               |
| experience for undergraduates and for teachers at 25 |               |
| of the 28 operating sites which in FY 2000 included  |               |
| 145 females and 100 underrepresented minorities for  |               |
| the summer programs alone. Highlights include K-12   |               |
| activities estimated to affect about 360 teachers    |               |
| and 18,000 students. For example NWU DMR-9632472 PI  |               |
| Chang MRSEC provided inquiry based educational       |               |
| program Materials World Modules to stimulate and     |               |
| excite and education middle and high school students |               |
| though modules given to their teachers (over 9000)   |               |
| so far in 14 states.                                 |               |
|                                                      |               |
| The NHFML is largely a user facility, however one    |               |
| can consider specifically the in-house research      |               |
| effort. Here there was criticism regarding the       |               |
| in-house leadership on the NMR portion of the        |               |
| effort. A suggestion by the review committee to      |               |
| compete the support for this in-house research       |               |
| externally was overruled. Over all, however, the     |               |
| quality of the research and educational projects is  |               |
| excellent.                                           |               |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------------+
| Are awards appropriate in size and duration for the  | **            |
| scope of the projects?                               | Appropriate** |
|                                                      |               |
| Comments:                                            |               |
|                                                      |               |
| The trends are moving in the right direction. This   |               |
| understanding lies behind the rank given to this     |               |
| item. It remains that the programs must strongly     |               |
| push this trend forward as the awards to individual  |               |
| investigators are still too small (increments to the |               |
| range of \$150-200K per year is recommended) and     |               |
| could be better correlated with the time students    |               |
| take to progress to their degrees (e.g. 4 years at a |               |
| minimum).                                            |               |
|                                                      |               |
| The size of center awards invokes a number of points |               |
| of interest to the COV. Some of these are addressed  |               |
| at the end of this report. We note that at the       |               |
| NHFML, the cost per external user is high.           |               |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------------+
| Does the program portfolio have an appropriate       | **            |
| balance of                                           | Appropriate** |
|                                                      |               |
| -   High Risk Proposals                              |               |
|                                                      |               |
| Comments:                                            |               |
|                                                      |               |
| The number of proposals in this class seems          |               |
| appropriate but certainly remains at a level where   |               |
| further expansion could be supported. The use of the |               |
| division reserve to promote the funding of programs  |               |
| in this class is appropriate and supported by the    |               |
| COV.                                                 |               |
|                                                      |               |
| There are specific issues to consider in a broader   |               |
| sense regarding the definition of a high-risk        |               |
| program. In some important areas of research, e.g.   |               |
| high temperature superconductivity, there exist a    |               |
| diversity of theories as to mechanism. Reviews in    |               |
| such cases can be quite divergent and the judgment   |               |
| of the PD is critical to the need of insuring fair   |               |
| and appropriate outcomes as to funding decisions.    |               |
| The freedom to make hard calls is an essential       |               |
| charge for the PD.                                   |               |
|                                                      |               |
| Through the seed programs, the MRSEC's have an       |               |
| excellent opportunity to develop high-risk           |               |
| activities usually with young investigators. This is |               |
| a valuable program that should be maintained. It is  |               |
| harder to judge the risk of the general aspects of   |               |
| the proposals from the information given.            |               |
|                                                      |               |
| This NHFML is a somewhat unique facility, one with a |               |
| significant instrument development effort. The fact  |               |
| that many of the instruments available are           |               |
| one-of-a-kind and have pushed the limits of          |               |
| technology suggests that there are an adequate       |               |
| number of high-risk instruments being constructed.   |               |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------------+
| -   Multidisciplinary Proposals                      | **            |
|                                                      | Appropriate** |
| Comments:                                            |               |
|                                                      |               |
| The multidisciplinary aspects of the portfolio       |               |
| appear to be increasingly dominated by the emerging  |               |
| interest in Nanosciences although many               |               |
| representative examples in other areas were noted.   |               |
| This is an area of growth in the portfolio. The PDs  |               |
| are handling these new program themes in a very      |               |
| competent way.                                       |               |
|                                                      |               |
| Two reviewed MRSEC jackets were excellent examples   |               |
| of interdisciplinary work between chemistry,         |               |
| engineering, physics and a little biology and        |               |
| included interactions between practicing scientists  |               |
| and educators at the K-12, undergraduate, graduate   |               |
| and post doctoral levels.                            |               |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------------+
| -   Innovative Proposals                             | **            |
|                                                      | Appropriate** |
| Comments:                                            |               |
|                                                      |               |
| The innovation exhibited in the proposals was        |               |
| remarkably high. This is a distinction that seems to |               |
| show no age preference. The portfolio is very        |               |
| healthy in this regard.                              |               |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------------+
| Of those awards reviewed by the committee, what      | Percentage    |
| percentage of projects address the integration of    |               |
| research and education?                              | **100** **%** |
|                                                      |               |
| Comments:                                            |               |
|                                                      |               |
| The manner in which this metric is best viewed is    |               |
| one requiring some insight into the diversity of the |               |
| programs that are supported by the cluster. The      |               |
| integration is both explicit and follows along       |               |
| exceptionally diverse lines for classes of awards    |               |
| such as are found in the MRSEC, CAREER, and REU      |               |
| programs. These programs reach out to essentially    |               |
| every level of instruction. The metrics to rank      |               |
| other single investigator awards come most directly  |               |
| from the high level of junior personnel supported by |               |
| the average award. The COV notes in the strongest    |               |
| terms that research is the principal instructional   |               |
| vehicle of the American system of graduate           |               |
| education. It is a system that renders enormous      |               |
| synergies and economies to essentially every area of |               |
| instructional delivery in our major research         |               |
| Universities. This is a national treasure, certainly |               |
| the envy of scholars and policy makers worldwide,    |               |
| and something that must be supported and fully       |               |
| reported to the citizens of the United States by the |               |
| Foundation and the research community it supports.   |               |
| The impending crisis in faculty staffing levels, one |               |
| that attends the projected onset of record levels of |               |
| retirements, demands the most urgent attention be    |               |
| given to the essential role played by the            |               |
| Foundation's research support programs in training   |               |
| the next generation of University faculty. It is all |               |
| the more important that no human resource be lost in |               |
| this process and that the problems of diversity in   |               |
| University faculty be solved.                        |               |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------------+

Discuss any concerns identified that are relevant to the quality of the
projects or the balance of the portfolio in the space below.

The COV strongly praises the depth and breadth of the programs supported
by the Division. The growing representation of interdisciplinary and
collaborative programs of research are notable and warrant recognition.

The COV looked at instances of the use of the Director's reserve fund
and found it to be consistent with the Foundation's goals for people,
ideas, and tools. Specifically we could identify examples of support for
innovative programs from minority institutions (0097272), for extensions
for CAREER awardees (0103704), and funds for high-risk multidisciplinary
proposals that advance the interests for both progress in research and
education.

##### PART B. RESULTS : OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES OF NSF INVESTMENTS

NSF investments produce results that appear over time. The answers to
questions for this section are to be based on the COV's study of award
results, which are direct and indirect accomplishments of projects
supported by the program. These projects may be currently active or
closed out during the previous three fiscal years. The COV review may
also include consideration of significant impacts and advances that have
developed since the previous COV review and are demonstrably linked to
NSF investments, regardless of when the investments were made.
Incremental progress made on results reported in prior fiscal years may
also be considered.

The attached questions are developed using the NSF outcome goals in the
2002 Performance Plan. The COV should look carefully at and comment on
(1) noteworthy achievements of the year based on NSF awards; (2) the
ways in which funded projects have collectively affected progress toward
strategic outcomes; and (3) expectations for future performance based on
the current set of awards. NSF asks the COV to reach a consensus
regarding the degree to which past investments in research and education
have measured up to the annual strategic outcome goals.

[The COV's should address each *relevan*t question]{.underline}.
Questions may not apply equally to all programs. COVs may conclude that
the program under review appropriately has little or no effect on
progress toward a strategic outcome, and should note that conclusion in
the COV's report.

The following report template provides the broad FY 2002 Strategic
Outcomes for People, Ideas and Tools, the FY 2002 performance goals for
each outcome, and the specific indicators used to measure performance in
meeting the annual performance goal. If the COV members are not sure how
to interpret the goal or indicators for the particular program, they
should request clarification from the NSF program staff.

To justify significant achievement of the outcome goals and indicators,
COV reports should provide brief narratives, which cite NSF-supported
examples of results. For each NSF example cited, the following
information should be provided in the report:

> NSF Award Number
>
> PI Names
>
> PI Institutions
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis
>
> Source for Report

**B.1.a COV Questions for PEOPLE Goal**

**[NSF OUTCOME GOAL for PEOPLE]{.underline}: Developing "a diverse,
internationally competitive and globally engaged workforce of
scientists, engineers, and well-prepared citizens."**

Consider each of the seven indicators for the PEOPLE goal. Has the
activity supported projects that demonstrate significant achievement for
the PEOPLE outcome goal indicators? To justify your answer, provide
NSF-supported examples for each of the relevant indicators that apply to
the activity and explain why they are relevant or important for this
outcome in the space following the table. If projects do not demonstrate
significant achievement, comment on steps that the program should take
to improve. Please do not discuss if the indicator is not relevant to
the activity.

+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| **PEOPLE GOAL INDICATORS**                     | **PROGRAM           |
|                                                | ACHIEVEMENT**       |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **SIGNIFICANT, OR** |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **NOT SIGNIFICANT , |
|                                                | OR**                |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **DOES NOT APPLY,   |
|                                                | OR**                |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **DATA NOT          |
|                                                | AVAILABLE**         |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **(select one)**    |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Development of well-prepared scientists,       | **Significant,**    |
| engineers or educators whose participation in  |                     |
| NSF activities provides them with the          | **(01052332 CMP,    |
| capability to explore frontiers and challenges | Plummer EW, U.      |
| of the future;                                 | Tenn; 6071717 POL,  |
|                                                | Mason, James        |
| Comments:                                      | Madison, 0117128,   |
|                                                | Cava, SSC,          |
| Each of the jackets sampled contained          | Princeton, 9901403  |
| participation by undergraduate and graduate    | POL Kornfield,      |
| students pursuing baccalaureate or graduate    | CalTech )**         |
| degrees in science and engineering disciplines |                     |
|                                                | **Fitzgerald,       |
| The MRSEC programs provide some of the most    | 9820095,MIT**       |
| significant NSF achievements in developing the |                     |
| next generation of materials research          | **Feenstra,         |
| scientists and engineers for the United        | 9985898, CMU**      |
| States. This is a key element in the MRSEC     |                     |
| selection and continuation process and has     | **Edwards, 0093690, |
| resulted in a wide diversity of approaches     | Alfred U.**         |
| that take advantage of the particular          |                     |
| institutional and regional strengths of the    | **Cornell/Di        |
| Centers created. For example, MRSEC-sponsored  | Salvo/DMR-0097494** |
| Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)   |                     |
| programs resulted in training 370              | **Princeton/Be      |
| undergraduates in the year 2000 alone to carry | nziger/DMR9912207U. |
| out basic research in the properties of        | of                  |
| materials at 25 Centers.                       | Pennsylvania/       |
|                                                | Klein/DMR-9912141** |
| The NHMFL is involved in a broad spectrum of   |                     |
| educational activities. Perhaps the most       | **U. of             |
| impressive is a series of workshop for         | Minnesota/Sn        |
| teachers, which involves nearly 500 teachers   | owden/DMR-9988039** |
| per year. The NHMFL faculty mentors            |                     |
| approximately 40 undergraduate students per    |                     |
| year and approximately 20 graduate students    |                     |
| steady state. The number of graduate students  |                     |
| from other institutions using the facility is  |                     |
| not well known, but most likely around 150.    |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Improved science and mathematics performance   | **Significant**     |
| for U.S. K-12 students involved in NSF         |                     |
| activities;                                    | **(9982010,         |
|                                                | Advincula, U.       |
| Comments:                                      | Alabama, CAREER,    |
|                                                | REU Supplement)**   |
| The educational component involves a           |                     |
| multi-level mentoring component all the way    | **(0104784, Wust,   |
| from K-12 students to high school teachers. At | Kent State)**       |
| the Liquid Crystal Institute (DMR-0104784),    |                     |
| high school students have participated in six  | **Cornell/Di        |
| workshops/year and are instructed in the areas | Salvo/DMR-0097494** |
| of bioluminescence and photosynthesis/gas      |                     |
| production.                                    | **Princeton/Be      |
|                                                | nziger/DMR9912207** |
| During the period 1999-2001, 15 MRSECs staged  |                     |
| significant Research Experience for Teacher    | **U. of             |
| (RET) programs that enabled 60 pre-college     | Pennsylvania/       |
| teachers to participate in both research and   | Klein/DMR-9912141** |
| related grades 9-12 curriculum development     |                     |
| efforts. Specific examples include the         | **U. of             |
| University of Maryland's outreach to 7^th^ and | Minnesota/Sn        |
| 8^th^ grades and the University of California  | owden/DMR-9988039** |
| Santa Barbara's outreach to regional high      |                     |
| schools with large ethnic minority             | **U. of             |
| populations.                                   | Maryland/Wil        |
|                                                | liams/DMR-9632472** |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Professional development of the SMET           | **Significant**     |
| instructional workforce involved in NSF        |                     |
| activities;                                    | **0122064, Polymer, |
|                                                | Ibeh, Pittsburgh    |
| Comments:                                      | State**             |
|                                                |                     |
| The Pittsburgh State University REU site       | **Seraphin,         |
| (DMR-0122064) will extend its activities to    | 0117244, U.         |
| K-12 teachers by enhancing their understanding | Arizona**           |
| of the concepts of science, engineering and    |                     |
| technology especially in polymer/plastic and   | **Datye, 0118276,   |
| electron microscope laboratories.              | U. NM**             |
|                                                |                     |
| During the period 1999-2001, 15 MRSECs staged  | **Chen, 998853,PA** |
| Research Experience for Teacher (RET) programs |                     |
| that enabled 60 pre-college teachers to        | **Dravid, 0043182,  |
| participate in both research and related       | Northwestern**      |
| grades 9-12 curriculum development efforts.    |                     |
|                                                | **Slamovich,        |
| The NHMFL provided science training for 56 K-6 | 0099121, Purdue**   |
| teaching majors and workshops for \~500        |                     |
| science teachers per year, and outreach in the | **Cornell/Di        |
| form of curriculum development affects about   | Salvo/DMR-0097494** |
| 400,000 additional students which means it     |                     |
| aids about 2000 science teachers. The NHMFL    | **Princeton/Be      |
| has a fantastic web site.                      | nziger/DMR9912207** |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **U. of             |
|                                                | Pennsylvania/       |
|                                                | Klein/DMR-9912141** |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **U. of             |
|                                                | Minnesota/Sn        |
|                                                | owden/DMR-9988039** |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Contributions to development of a diverse      | **Significant**     |
| workforce through participation of             |                     |
| underrepresented groups (women,                | **(9875425, CMP     |
| underrepresented minorities, persons with      | Leslie- Pelecky,    |
| disabilities) in NSF activities;               | Nebraska)**         |
|                                                |                     |
| Comments:                                      | **(9908418 Polymer, |
|                                                | Goodson T.**        |
| Leslie-Pelecky is highly noted for her strong  |                     |
| commitment to educational outreach and         | **Wayne State       |
| diversification of the workforce. Through her  | MRPG)**             |
| work she continues to contribute to a highly   |                     |
| regarded AIP program to attract women and      | **(0071672 SSC,     |
| minorities to physics.                         | Porter, Northern    |
|                                                | Arizona             |
| Goodson at Wayne state is a new minority       | University)**       |
| faculty member and is working with Detroit     |                     |
| area middle and high school students           | **9996087, Zhang,   |
|                                                | Oakland U**         |
| Students from Navaho or Hopi reservations will |                     |
| participate in research at NAU to study the    | **Allen, U. TN      |
| synthesis, characterization and application of | 0074682,            |
| composite materials formed from the            | Mirecki-Millunchik, |
| solventless reaction of layered silicates.     | U. M. 99733352**    |
|                                                |                     |
| Several POWRE grants that support the research | **Allen, 0074682,U. |
| of women.                                      | TN**                |
|                                                |                     |
| The MRSEC program has resulted in several      | **                  |
| significant efforts to develop a diverse       | Mirecki-Millunchik, |
| workforce. For example, the University of      | 0074682, U. MI**    |
| Alabama hosted annual summer workshops for     |                     |
| faculty in the mathematical and physics        | **U. of             |
| sciences from Historically Black Colleges and  | Alabama/            |
| Universities (HBCU). These faculty             | Acoff/DMR-9976488** |
| participants then are able to introduce        |                     |
| materials science-based examples and           | **U. of             |
| experiments to students in their courses back  | Pennsylvania/       |
| on their respective campuses. Similarly, the   | Klein/DMR-9912141** |
| University of Pennsylvania MRSEC generated a   |                     |
| new masters' degree program with the           | **Carnegie Mellon   |
| University of Puerto Rico. Also, Carnegie      | University/R        |
| Mellon University's MRSEC staged an exchange   | ohrer/DMR-0079909** |
| program for both faculty and students with     |                     |
| Florida A&M.                                   |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| The REU summer programs involved roughly 400   |                     |
| undergraduates of whom 150 were female         |                     |
| students and about 85 were members of ethnic   |                     |
| minorities.                                    |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Participation of NSF scientists and engineers  | **Significant**     |
| in international studies, collaborations, or   |                     |
| partnerships;                                  | **(0120522, SSC,    |
|                                                | Chang               |
| Comments:                                      | Northwestern)**     |
|                                                |                     |
| The organization of a US-Middle East Materials | **(0100273, SSC     |
| Workshop (DMR-0120522) in Turkey will draw     | Luzzi, U. Penn)**   |
| participation from US, Jordan, Turkey, Israel  |                     |
| and Arab countries. The COV recommends that 2  | **(0080058,         |
| or more young researchers should be included   | Polymer, Burghardt, |
| in the list of presenters along with 2 or more | Northwestern)**     |
| investigators from underrepresented groups.    |                     |
|                                                | **(9872689, Zypman, |
| A European team from the University of         | U.PR, Humacao +     |
| Montpellier in France and the University of    | U.Penn)**           |
| Valladolid in Spain have linked with US        |                     |
| partners to perform experimental and           | **9903321,          |
| theoretical studies of intercalated and        | Murkherjee, UC      |
| intracalated carbon nanotubes (DMR-0100273).   | Davis**             |
| In addition, a US-Germany workshop on polymers |                     |
| (DMR-0080058) involves a significant number of | **0010062,Carter,   |
| young researchers to infuse new ideas.         | MIT**               |
|                                                |                     |
| The division supports collaborative programs   | **U. of             |
| in research and education between the U. Of    | Pennsylvania/       |
| Puerto Rico at Humacao (DMR-9872689, Zypman)   | Klein/DMR-9912141** |
| and U. Penn designed to use practical          |                     |
| resources of MRSECs. These programs also add a | **SUNY-Stony        |
| new masters program in materials physics at    | Brook/Rafail        |
| UPR-Humacao while simultaneously encouraging   | ovich/DMR-9632525** |
| faculty and graduate student exchanges.        |                     |
|                                                | **University of     |
| A significant number of MRSECs have generated  | California Santa    |
| international collaborations that have         | Barbara/Che         |
| resulted in joint research activities and      | etham/DMR-9632716** |
| exchange programs for students. For example,   |                     |
| these include: the University of Pennsylvania  |                     |
| MRSEC with the University of Puerto Rico (also |                     |
| new masters' program in materials physics),    |                     |
| the Center for Polymers at Engineered          |                     |
| Interfaces at SUNY-Stony                       |                     |
| Brook/Rafailovich/DMR-9632525 with the Korean  |                     |
| Advanced Institute for Science and Technology  |                     |
| (KAIST) (bilateral symposium on nanostructured |                     |
| materials), and the University of California   |                     |
| at Santa Barbara with collaborators in         |                     |
| Germany, Venezuela, and India.                 |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| From 1995-98 the NHMFL was involved in 54      |                     |
| international collaborations.                  |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Enhancement of undergraduate curricular,       | **Significant**     |
| laboratory, or instructional infrastructure;   |                     |
|                                                | **(9875193 CMP,     |
| Comments: DMR-9875193 CMP, Moler, K. Stanford. | Moler, K.           |
| The proposal includes development of a         | Stanford)**         |
| 2-quarter undergraduate course on              |                     |
| microfabrication with hands on experience.     | **(9974353, Watson, |
|                                                | G, Delaware)        |
| Watson's project on biomolecular materials is  | (0071878, Xiao,     |
| providing excellent training and marketable    | Delaware)**         |
| interdisciplinary skills to graduate students. |                     |
| Students are developing nanometer scale        | **9816617, Fultz,   |
| fabrication skills applicable to chemical      | CalTech**           |
| systems, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology  |                     |
| industries and the semiconductor field.        | **Northwestern      |
|                                                | University/         |
| At the high school level, Xiao et al. have     | Chang/DMR-9632472** |
| created a novel hands-on summer experience     |                     |
| camp for physics                               | **U. of             |
|                                                | Wisconsin/          |
| MRSECs have produced new instructional         | Kuech/DMR-0079983** |
| material during the past 3 years. These        |                     |
| include: (1) the Materials World Modules for   |                     |
| high school instruction developed by the       |                     |
| Northwestern University MRSEC. These modules   |                     |
| engage students using an inquiry-based         |                     |
| instructional technique and have been widely   |                     |
| used (over 9,000 teachers in 14 states as well |                     |
| as in U.S. Army base schools in 9 foreign      |                     |
| countries.)                                    |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| \(2\) The 'picture books' developed by the     |                     |
| University of Wisconsin's MRSEC to illustrate  |                     |
| nanoscale materials and devices.               |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| The NHML web site (www.magnet.fsu.org)         |                     |
| contains some very polished information to     |                     |
| help K-6 students understand magnetism and     |                     |
| other natural phenomena.                       |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Awardee communication with the public in order | **Significant**     |
| to provide information about the process and   |                     |
| benefits of NSF supported science and          | **(0076097, Chang   |
| engineering activities.                        | Northwestern)**     |
|                                                |                     |
| Comments:                                      | **9421780, Chang,   |
|                                                | Wisconsin**         |
| The program adds a powerful and wide reaching  |                     |
| resource to the international materials        | **9401044, Morral,  |
| community and public by beginning development  | U. of Conn.**       |
| of the virtual Materials World Net. This       |                     |
| virtual network will serve as a worldwide      | **U. of             |
| resource for materials research and education. | Wisconsin/          |
|                                                | Kuech/DMR-0079983** |
| The MRSEC have provided some outreach          |                     |
| communication with the public to illustrate    | **U. of             |
| the benefits of NSF-supported science and      | Chicago/Si          |
| engineering activities. Examples are: (1) the  | bener/DMR-9808595** |
| 'picture books' developed by the University of |                     |
| Wisconsin's MRSEC to illustrate nanoscale      |                     |
| materials and devices that were featured in    |                     |
| the Smithsonian's Muse magazine in the Spring  |                     |
| 2001 issue dedicated to nanotechnology; (2)    |                     |
| the Science magazine article on "The Physics   |                     |
| of Granular Materials" generated by faculty in |                     |
| the U. of Chicago MRSEC. Not only has this     |                     |
| article been highly cited by scientists and    |                     |
| used to help launch the field of granular      |                     |
| dynamics, but it has also stimulated interest  |                     |
| in many seemingly unrelated technology areas   |                     |
| for applications as diverse as traffic flow,   |                     |
| avalanche prediction, blood agglomeration, and |                     |
| fusion plasmas. \[Understanding of particle    |                     |
| flow has additional value outside even these   |                     |
| areas. For example, particle charging during   |                     |
| flow in grain elevators to avoid charging and  |                     |
| explosion, as well as particle charging in     |                     |
| xerographic photoreceptors to print high       |                     |
| quality uniform images.                        |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| The NHMFL hosts tours for roughly 10,000       |                     |
| people per year, and they have a fantastic web |                     |
| site which receives about 3,000,000 hits per   |                     |
| year.                                          |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+

Provide one or more examples of NSF supported results with award numbers
to justify each selection above. For each example, provide a brief
narrative, to explain the importance of the result in non-technical
terms. For each NSF example cited, include the following information:

> NSF Award Number
>
> PI Names
>
> PI Institutions
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis
>
> Source for Report

B.1.b COV Questions related to PEOPLE Areas of Emphasis

For each relevant area shown below, determine whether the program's
investments and available results demonstrate the likelihood of strong
performance in the future? Justify your argument by providing
NSF-supported examples of investment results (with grant numbers) that
relate to or demonstrate outcomes for the PEOPLE goal and relevant
indicators. If the area of emphasis is not relevant to the activity, do
not discuss.

+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| **PEOPLE Areas of Emphasis**                    | **Demonstrates     |
|                                                 | likelihood of      |
|                                                 | strong performance |
|                                                 | in future?**       |
|                                                 |                    |
|                                                 | **(Yes, No, Does   |
|                                                 | Not Apply or Data  |
|                                                 | Not Available)**   |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| K-12 Education -President's Math and Science    | **Does not apply** |
| Partnership                                     |                    |
|                                                 |                    |
| Comments:                                       |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| **Learning for the 21^st^ Century:**            | **Does not apply** |
|                                                 |                    |
| -   Centers for Learning and Teaching (CLT)     |                    |
|                                                 |                    |
| ```{=html}                                      |                    |
| <!-- -->                                        |                    |
| ```                                             |                    |
| -   NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12       |                    |
|     Education (GK-12)                           |                    |
|                                                 |                    |
| Comments:                                       |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| **Broadening Participation**                    | **Yes**            |
|                                                 |                    |
| -   Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI)         | **(9901165, SSC,   |
|     programs                                    | Coleman, Cal State |
|                                                 | LA)**              |
|     An interdisciplinary investigation of       |                    |
|     intercalation in heavy metal iodides        |                    |
|     continues at Cal State-Los Angeles          |                    |
|                                                 |                    |
|     Graduate Student Stipends                   |                    |
|                                                 |                    |
| ```{=html}                                      |                    |
| <!-- -->                                        |                    |
| ```                                             |                    |
| -   Increasing stipends for GRF, IGERT, and     |                    |
|     GK-12                                       |                    |
|                                                 |                    |
| Comments:                                       |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+

Provide one or more examples of NSF supported results with grant numbers
to justify each selection above. For each example, provide a brief
narrative to explain the importance of the result in non-technical
terms. For each NSF example cited, include the following information:

> NSF Award Number
>
> PI Names
>
> PI Institutions
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis
>
> Source for Report

Comment on steps that the program should take to improve performance in
areas of the PEOPLE goal.

**B.2.a COV Questions for IDEAS Goal**

**[NSF OUTCOME GOAL for IDEAS]{.underline}: Enabling "discovery across
the frontier of science and engineering, connected to learning,
innovation, and service to society."**

Consider each of the six indicators for the IDEAS goal in the table
below. Has the activity supported projects that demonstrate significant
achievement for the IDEAS outcome goal indicators? Complete the table
below for each program reviewed. To support your results in the table,
provide NSF-supported examples for each of the relevant indicators that
apply to the activity and explain why they are important for the IDEAS
outcome. If projects do not demonstrate significant achievement, comment
on steps that the program should take to improve. Do not discuss if
indicator is not relevant to the activity.

+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| **IDEAS INDICATORS**                           | **PROGRAM           |
|                                                | ACHIEVEMENT**       |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **Select one:**     |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **SIGNIFICANT,**    |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **NOT               |
|                                                | SIGNIFICANT,**      |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **DOES NOT APPLY    |
|                                                | or**                |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **DATA NOT          |
|                                                | AVAILABLE**         |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Discoveries that expand the frontiers of       | **SIGNIFICANT**     |
| science, engineering, or technology;           |                     |
|                                                | **0073046, PI       |
| Comments: The Nobel-Prize winning discovery of | Smalley, Rice**     |
| Fullerenes by R. Smalley is the basis for new  |                     |
| discoveries in the synthesis of single-walled  | **7101679, PI Tsui, |
| carbon nanotubes                               | Princeton**         |
|                                                |                     |
| The 1998 Nobel Prize for the fractional        | **9730126, PI       |
| quantum Hall effect shared by Laughlin Stormer | Heeger UCSB**       |
| and Tsui was based on work carried out in the  |                     |
| NSF-funded National High Magnetic Field        | **0099843, PI       |
| Laboratory.                                    | Heeger UCSB**       |
|                                                |                     |
| The 2000 Nobel Prize was given for work on the | **0070267, PI       |
| development of conducting polymers, shared by  | Zewail, Cal Tech**  |
| Heeger, MacDiarmid and Shirakawa. Both Heeger  |                     |
| and MacDiarmid have been funded by the BSC     | **0073587, PI Lee   |
| cluster.                                       | and Hoffman,        |
|                                                | Cornell**           |
| The 1999 Nobel Prize in chemistry (Zeweil) was |                     |
| given for the study of chemical processes at   | **9971694, PI       |
| ultrafast timescales. This work is receiving   | Osheroff,           |
| continuing support under the BSC cluster.      | Stanford**          |
|                                                |                     |
| The BSC is continuing to support the Nobel     | **0071893, Shih,    |
| Laureates Roald Hoffman and Doug Osheroff.     | UTA**               |
|                                                |                     |
| The MRSECs have generated many significant     | **U. of             |
| discoveries that expand the frontiers of       | Pennsylvania/K      |
| science, engineering, and technology. Notable  | lein/DMR-9912141,** |
| examples include: (1) the discovery at the     |                     |
| University of Pennsylvania MRSEC of            | **Harvard/Weste     |
| polymersomes, a new class of synthetic         | rvelt/DMR-9809363** |
| thin-shelled capsules that exhibit order of    |                     |
| magnitude improvement in toughness and water   | **U.C. Santa        |
| permeability; (2) the discovery at the Harvard | Barbara/Cheetham    |
| University MRSEC of magnetic fields at         | /DMR-/DMR-9632716** |
| microfabricated gold wires that can guide      |                     |
| neutral atoms on surfaces analogous to optical |                     |
| fibers. Such micro-electromagnets can open the |                     |
| way for atom gyroscopes; (3) the discovery at  |                     |
| the University of California at Santa Barbara  |                     |
| of a protein used by living organisms to make  |                     |
| complex but controllable structures from       |                     |
| silicon at low temperature. Use of such a      |                     |
| synthetic route opens the way to new           |                     |
| environmentally friendly routes to a wide      |                     |
| range of biomedical applications based on      |                     |
| silicon structures.                            |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| Conventional superconductivity in materials    |                     |
| like lead and tin results from interaction of  |                     |
| electrons with lattice vibrations (phonons).   |                     |
| N. Harrison, C.H. Mielke, J. Singleton, J.     |                     |
| Brooks, and M. Tokumoto have now used the      |                     |
| facilities of the NHMFL to show that           |                     |
| superconductivity can also result from the     |                     |
| existence of charge density waves, in an       |                     |
| organic material at low temperatures. This     |                     |
| kind of superconductivity was first predicted  |                     |
| to be possible in 1954 by Frohlich. Such       |                     |
| superconductivity had never been seen before.  |                     |
| In their work the authors had to cool their    |                     |
| sample to within one degree of absolute zero   |                     |
| in a magnetic field five hundred thousand      |                     |
| times as strong as the Earth's field.          |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Discoveries that contribute to the fundamental | **SIGNIFICANT**     |
| knowledge base;                                |                     |
|                                                | **0137931, PI Ho,   |
| Comments: Unique low temperature scanning      | Cal Irvine**        |
| tunneling microscope facilities have been      |                     |
| funded that are enabling promising vibrational | **9704532, PI       |
| and electronic spectroscopy on individual      | Birgenau, MIT**     |
| surface atoms.                                 |                     |
|                                                | **9705411, PI       |
| Birgeneau at MIT demonstrated a connection     | Roukes, Cal Tech**  |
| between magnetism and superconductivity in     |                     |
| high Tc superconductors                        | **9813919, Fine,    |
|                                                | Northwestern**      |
| Roukes measured the quantum of thermal         |                     |
| conductance, the upper bound on the heat that  | **0081796,          |
| each phonon can carry.                         | Subramanian, MSU**  |
|                                                |                     |
| In a study using the DMR supported CHRNS SANS  | **0092530, Chawla,  |
| instrument recently published in *Nature (*R.  | ASU**               |
| L. Jones, S. K. Kumar, D. L. Ho, R. M. Briber, |                     |
| and T. P. Russell, \"Chain Conformation in     | **U. of             |
| Ultrathin Polymer Films\", *Nature* 400,       | Alabama/            |
| 146-149 (1999).), the chain structure and      | Doyle/DMR-9809423** |
| conformation in ultrathin (less than 100 nm)   |                     |
| polymer films have been successfully           | **U. of             |
| characterized. The conformation was deduced    | Maryland            |
| directly from the scattering from mixtures of  | /Williams/9632521** |
| protonated and perdeuterated polystyrenes. The |                     |
| SANS measurements established for the first    | **MIT/R             |
| time that the gaussian conformation is         | ubner/DMR-9808941** |
| retained parallel to the surfaces in all       |                     |
| cases.                                         |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| MRSEC activities have provided many            |                     |
| contributions to the fundamental knowledge     |                     |
| base in materials research. Typical examples   |                     |
| include: (1) the University of Alabama's MRSEC |                     |
| work using magnetic susceptibility to measure  |                     |
| the dispersion of magnetic inks consisting of  |                     |
| submicron magnetic particles suspended in a    |                     |
| polymer solution; (2) the University of        |                     |
| Maryland's electric force microscopy work to   |                     |
| measure the ferroelectric properties of        |                     |
| sub-micron dynamic random access memories      |                     |
| (DRAMs); (3) the MIT's MRSEC thermodynamic     |                     |
| modeling for polymer-polymer miscibility that  |                     |
| has led to a new class of manufacturing        |                     |
| plastics that transform between the solid and  |                     |
| liquid states with applied pressure.           |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Leadership in fostering newly developing or    | **SIGNIFICANT**     |
| emerging areas;                                |                     |
|                                                | **9701500, PI       |
| Comments: Silvera at Harvard has developed a   | Silvera, Harvard**  |
| new and inexpensive diamond anvil cell making  |                     |
| extreme pressure research available to a       | **0103009, Dalton,  |
| larger body of researchers.                    | U.Wash**            |
|                                                |                     |
| BCS also sponsored a variety of workshops to   | **CalTech/Korn      |
| help crystallize new areas. Examples include   | field/DMR-0080065** |
| workshops on "Biological Force Transduction"   |                     |
| (CMP), "Frontiers for Polymer Science in the   |                     |
| 21^st'^ Century," (POL), "New Synthetic        |                     |
| Methods in Solid State Chemistry" (SSC).       |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| "Nanostructured Optoelectronic Materials"      |                     |
| Center, part of the new Nanoscale Science and  |                     |
| Engineering initiative, is cofunded by DMR,    |                     |
| the Electronics, Photonics and Device          |                     |
| Technology Division and the Engineering        |                     |
| Education Program Division, is an example of a |                     |
| crossdisciplinary activity in the exciting     |                     |
| area of nanotechnology. This center            |                     |
| encompasses virtually all aspects of the       |                     |
| design, synthesis and processing of new        |                     |
| organic materials with a wide range of         |                     |
| optoelectronic properties that provide         |                     |
| leadership in the development and use of       |                     |
| light-manipulating materials for computing and |                     |
| communication.                                 |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| A significant number of MRSEC achievements     |                     |
| represent leadership in fostering new areas of |                     |
| science and engineering. A notable example is  |                     |
| the demonstration by the CalTech MRSEC that    |                     |
| light can propagate along fluorescent          |                     |
| molecules and even metal nanoparticles by      |                     |
| "hopping" between electric dipoles. As a       |                     |
| result a new area has emerged based on the     |                     |
| conduction of light on nanostructures at       |                     |
| length scales below the wavelength of light to |                     |
| produce nanowaveguides, nanoscale light pipes, |                     |
| and bioprobes of biological molecules.         |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| The NHMFL has led the world in the production  |                     |
| of magnetic fields. Their facility firsts      |                     |
| include the production of a 45 Tesla static    |                     |
| magnetic field from a hybrid                   |                     |
| (superconducting/normal) magnet, a 33 Tesla    |                     |
| static magnetic field from a resistive magnet, |                     |
| and a 79 Tesla long pulse magnetic field. In   |                     |
| addition, they have succeeded in cooling a 2D  |                     |
| electron gas for studying the fractional       |                     |
| quantum Hall effect to 4 mK in a magnetic      |                     |
| field of \~18T. All of these are world         |                     |
| records.                                       |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Connections between discoveries and their use  | **SIGNIFICANT**     |
| in service to society;                         |                     |
|                                                | **9819360, PI       |
| Comments: Publication of a book tying state of | Shapero, NAS**      |
| the art materials research to future           |                     |
| technologies                                   | **9870407, PI       |
|                                                | McNamara, Worcester |
| McNamara at Worcester Polytechnic (CMP)        | Poly**              |
| utilized improvements in techniques for small  |                     |
| angle light scattering to authenticate and     | **9801739, PI       |
| restore artwork.                               | Allara, PSU**       |
|                                                |                     |
| Start-up companies to exploit molecular        | **9807591, PI       |
| electronics and omni directional reflection    | Thomas, MIT**       |
| were developed. UNIAX, a start-up founded by   |                     |
| Heeger that has been involved in polymer LED's | **9812852, PI       |
| was acquired by Dupont (POL)                   | Heeger, UCSD**      |
|                                                |                     |
| New hydroxyapatite-biopolymer composites for   | **9972587,          |
| coating titanium used in hip and knee implants | Redpenning, UN**    |
| to improve formation of strong interphase with |                     |
| bone have also been developed and described to | **MIT/R             |
| the public.                                    | ubner/DMR-9808941** |
|                                                |                     |
| A significant number of MRSEC discoveries show |                     |
| promise for applications that provide service  |                     |
| to society. A good example is MIT's MRSEC      |                     |
| thermodynamic modeling for polymer-polymer     |                     |
| miscibility that has led to a new class of     |                     |
| manufacturing plastics termed "baroplastics"   |                     |
| that transform between the solid and liquid    |                     |
| states with applied pressure. Because of their |                     |
| unique pressure sensitivity and low            |                     |
| temperature processing, such plastics can be   |                     |
| produced with reduced energy consumption a and |                     |
| they can be extensively recycled.              |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Connections between discovery and learning or  | **SIGNIFICANT**     |
| innovation;                                    |                     |
|                                                | **9905008, PI       |
| Comments: Investigators have in many cases     | Bates, U.           |
| been successful in integrating their research  | Minnesota**         |
| results with a broad outreach to student       |                     |
| communities. Examples are to write general     | **9101509, PI       |
| interest articles for Physics Today that are   | Granick, UIUC**     |
| features on the covers.                        |                     |
|                                                | **Northwestern      |
| Discoveries at MRSECs during the period        | University/         |
| 1999-2001 have led to significant learning and | Chang/DMR-9632472** |
| innovation. An example is the discovery at the |                     |
| Northwestern University MRSEC that when the    |                     |
| light scattering length becomes less that the  |                     |
| optical wavelength, light can scatter in       |                     |
| closed loops that, in a gain medium, can       |                     |
| result in lasing. This discovery opens the way |                     |
| for innovations such as solid-state lasers     |                     |
| based on relatively inexpensive                |                     |
| polycrystalline (powder) materials rather than |                     |
| single crystals and without the need for       |                     |
| reflecting mirrors.                            |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Partnerships that enable the flow of ideas     | **SIGNIFICANT**     |
| among the academic, public or private sectors. |                     |
|                                                | **0071302, PI       |
| Comments: GOALI grants facilitated             | Dinnocenzo,         |
| collaborations with Kodak developing a novel   | Rochester**         |
| photosensitive polymer and with Lucent in the  |                     |
| study of optical non-linearities in glass      | **9974031, PI       |
|                                                | Toulouse, Lehigh**  |
| The area of Spintronics, which is funded in    |                     |
| about 20 CMP grants, may have profound         | **CTS-9871782       |
| implications in information storage.           | (Co-funded by       |
|                                                | DMR)**              |
| Closely packed nanowire arrays (developed in a |                     |
| collaborative effort between IBM and           | **PI Tuomihen,      |
| UMass-Amherst) have been licensed for          | UMass Amherst**     |
| development as a magnetic storage medium to    |                     |
| Paramount Capital.                             | **9710207, Wager,   |
|                                                | OSU**               |
| GOALI project with Planar Systems to develop   |                     |
| full-color thin-film eletroluminescent flat    | **U. C. Santa       |
| panel displays based on doped ZnS phophors     | Barbara/Che         |
| (Electronic Materials).                        | etham/DMR-9632716** |
|                                                |                     |
| CHRNS staff scientists, in collaboration with  |                     |
| the Bell Labs scientists have shown that       |                     |
| multiple refraction from high index, low       |                     |
| absorbing material could be superior to        |                     |
| reflection optics or conventional pinhole      |                     |
| collimation for SANS using a linear array of   |                     |
| 28 biconcave magnesium fluoride lenses.        |                     |
| Parasitic scattering from the lenses was       |                     |
| 10,000 time less than the peak intensity, a    |                     |
| marked improvement over reflection optics.     |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| There have been several notable examples of    |                     |
| ideas generated by the MRSEC program that have |                     |
| flowed into the public and private sectors.    |                     |
| The University of California Santa Barbara's   |                     |
| MRSEC has generated the understanding of       |                     |
| electronic behavior in conducting polymers     |                     |
| that has led to the production of the world's  |                     |
| first polymer-organic light emitting diode and |                     |
| now the formation of a company, DuPont         |                     |
| Displays, that aims to commercialize them for  |                     |
| bright, low cost and lightweight displays in   |                     |
| wireless devices such as cell phones.          |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+

Provide one or more examples of NSF supported results with grant numbers
to justify each selection above. For each example, provide a brief
narrative to explain the importance of the result in non-technical
terms. For each NSF example cited, include the following information:

> NSF Award Number
>
> PI Names
>
> PI Institutions
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis
>
> Source for Report

B.2.b COV Questions related to IDEAS Areas of Emphasis

For each relevant area shown below, determine whether the program's
investments and available results demonstrate the likelihood of strong
performance in the future? Justify your argument by providing
NSF-supported examples of investment results (with grant numbers) that
relate to or demonstrate outcomes for the IDEA goal and relevant
indicators in the space below the area of emphasis. If the area of
emphasis is not relevant to the activity, do not discuss.

+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| **IDEAS Areas of Emphasis**                     | **Demonstrates     |
|                                                 | likelihood of      |
|                                                 | strong performance |
|                                                 | in future?**       |
|                                                 |                    |
|                                                 | **Select one:**    |
|                                                 |                    |
|                                                 | **Yes, No, Does    |
|                                                 | Not Apply or Data  |
|                                                 | Not Available**    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Biocomplexity in the Environment                | **Does not apply** |
|                                                 |                    |
| Comments:                                       |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Information Technology Research                 | **Does not apply** |
|                                                 |                    |
| Comments:                                       |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Nanoscale Science and Engineering               | **Yes**            |
|                                                 |                    |
| Comments: The cluster has historically funded   | **0072046,         |
| nanoscale science and engineering efforts and   | Smalley, Rice**    |
| continues to do so in a vigorous way. Notable   |                    |
| efforts in this area include work on nanotubes  | **9813399, Lieber, |
| and devices by Smalley and Lieber, single       | Harvard**          |
| electron transistors and quantum dots           |                    |
| (Kastner), nanoscale fabrication (Mayes) and    | **0102153,         |
| dip-pen nanolithography (Mirkin). The cluster's | Kastner, MIT**     |
| support in this area has grown significantly    |                    |
| during the period covered by the COV.           | **9817735, Mayes,  |
|                                                 | MIT**              |
| Xiao is running a summer school for high school |                    |
| students in the physics of nanostructures.      | **9632472, Mirkin, |
|                                                 | Northwestern**     |
| It should be pointed out also that the NIRT's   |                    |
| that have recently been established in this     | **0071878, Xiao,   |
| division will provide leadership in defining    | Delaware**         |
| and developing nanomaterials and nanotechnology |                    |
| for a wide range of applications. In Electronic | **9875129, Shen,   |
| Materials, examples include" Exploring          | Utah State U**     |
| Nanostructures Based on Atomically Ordered 2D   |                    |
| Dopant Patterns on Silicon," and "Nanoscale     | **9985898,         |
| Structure of Semiconductor Surfaces, Alloys and | Feenstra, Carnegie |
| Heterostructures," both deal with               | Mellon U**         |
| nanoorganization and nanomaterials for          |                    |
| electronic applications. In Ceramics, a NIRT    | **0103354, Schlom, |
| titled "Artificially Engineered Nanoscale       | PSU**              |
| Ferroelectrics," will focus on the use of       |                    |
| atom-by-atom formation of ferroelectric         | **9980213,         |
| materials with potential for applications in    | Fereshteh, U       |
| healthcare, defense and communication. In       | Florida**          |
| Metals, the project "Deformation and Failure of |                    |
| Nanocrystallline Metals," has involved          | *                  |
| exploration of the mechanical properties with   | *U.C.SantaBarbara/ |
| crystallite sizes less than 100 nm with the     | Che                |
| goal of improving mechanical properties and     | etham/DMR-0080034, |
| corrosion resistance.                           | Harvard/Weste      |
|                                                 | rvelt/DMR-9809363, |
| There is a strong likelihood that the MRSEC     | Cornell/Ashc       |
| programs will lead to strong performance in     | roft/DMR-9632275** |
| nanoscale science and engineering. Indeed       |                    |
| several activities have already provided        |                    |
| examples of advances in nanoscience and         |                    |
| technology. Three examples are: (1) the         |                    |
| creation of nanostructured tubules for chemical |                    |
| and drug delivery at the U.C. Santa Barbara     |                    |
| MRSEC; (2) the modeling and simulation of       |                    |
| nanoscale electron flow from quantum point      |                    |
| contacts at the Harvard MRSEC; and (3) the use  |                    |
| of spin-polarized electrons by the Cornell      |                    |
| MRSEC to orient the spins of the magnetic atoms |                    |
| and thereby control the alignment of magnetic   |                    |
| domains on a scale of nanometers.               |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Interdisciplinary mathematics                   | **No**             |
|                                                 |                    |
| Comments:                                       |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+

Provide one or more examples of NSF supported results with award numbers
to justify each selection above. For each example, provide a brief
narrative to explain the importance of the result in non-technical
terms. For each NSF example cited, include the following information:

> NSF Award Number
>
> PI Names
>
> PI Institutions
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis
>
> Source for Report

Comment on steps that the program should take to improve performance in
areas of the IDEAS goal.

> One of the difficulties faced by the panel was that because of the
> conflicts of interest that required that the COV members assess
> programs outside their spheres of expertise, it was difficult to cull
> the best examples of innovative work in the BCS area.

**B.3.a COV Questions for TOOLS Goal**

**[OUTCOME GOAL for TOOLS:]{.underline} Providing "broadly accessible,
state-of-the-art and shared research and education tools."**

Consider each of the six indicators for the TOOLS goal. Has the activity
supported projects that demonstrate significant achievement for the
TOOLS outcome goal indicators? Provide NSF-supported examples for each
of the relevant indicators that apply to the activity and explain why
they are important for the TOOLS outcome. If projects do not demonstrate
significant achievement, comment on steps that the program should take
to improve. Do not discuss if indicator is not relevant to the activity.

+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| **TOOLS INDICATORS**                           | **PROGRAM           |
|                                                | ACHIEVEMENT**       |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **Select one:**     |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **SIGNIFICANT,**    |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **NOT               |
|                                                | SIGNIFICANT,**      |
|                                                |                     |
|                                                | **DOES NOT APPLY or |
|                                                | DATA NOT            |
|                                                | AVAILABLE**         |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Provision of facilities, databases or other    | **U. of             |
| infrastructure that enable discoveries or      | Minnesota/W         |
| enhance productivity by NSF research or        | ard/DMR-989809364** |
| education communities;                         |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| Comments:                                      |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| A notable example of new tools include: a      |                     |
| portable polarized light imaging apparatus to  |                     |
| image soft connective tissue alignment in      |                     |
| conjunction with mechanical testing developed  |                     |
| by the U. of Minnesota MRSEC                   |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| Four world-class neutron scattering            |                     |
| instruments (spin-polarized inelastic neutron  |                     |
| scattering, and two complementary small angle  |                     |
| neutron scattering instruments, and a crystal  |                     |
| diffractometer) have been supported by this    |                     |
| award. These instruments provide unique        |                     |
| capabilities at a reactor source that          |                     |
| complement the capabilities at spallation      |                     |
| sources.                                       |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| The NHMFL is a facility which does enhance     |                     |
| productivity by NSF and other research         |                     |
| communities. In 2001 the laboratory produced   |                     |
| over 300 research reports. Its web site and    |                     |
| curricular products enhance educational        |                     |
| opportunities for up to 400,000 k-12 school    |                     |
| children.                                      |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Provision of broadly accessible facilities,    | **Carnegie Mellon   |
| databases or other infrastructure that are     | U./Adams/96532556** |
| widely shared by NSF research or education     |                     |
| communities;                                   |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| Comments:                                      |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| An important new database is the Mesoscale     |                     |
| Interface Mapping Project from the Carnegie    |                     |
| Mellon MRSEC to develop a comprehensive data   |                     |
| set on the structure of crystal or grain       |                     |
| boundaries on an atomic scale                  |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Partnerships, e.g., with other federal         | **Krivin, UIUC,     |
| agencies, national laboratories, or other      | 9972114**           |
| nations to support and enable development of   |                     |
| large facilities and infrastructure projects;  |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| Comments:                                      |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| DMR supported efforts have developed           |                     |
| capabilities in collaboration with others for  |                     |
| high temperature powder diffraction.           |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| CHRNS is an excellent example of how NSF has   |                     |
| partnered with a national laboratory (NIST) to |                     |
| enable new science to be done. Furthermore,    |                     |
| NIH and NSF continue this collaborative effort |                     |
| with a new SANS optimized for cold neutrons.   |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| The pulsed magnetic field component of the     |                     |
| NHMFL is located at Los Alamos National        |                     |
| Laboratory using kinetic energy storage        |                     |
| devices that already existed at that site.     |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Use of the Internet to make SMET information   | **SIGNIFICANT**     |
| available to the NSF research or education     |                     |
| communities;                                   |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| Comments:                                      |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| The MRSEC webpage makes educational outreach   |                     |
| (www.mrsec.org) and research brochures         |                     |
| available between the MRSECs and other         |                     |
| institutions.                                  |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Development, management, or utilization of     | **Does not apply**  |
| very large data sets and information-bases;    |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| Comments:                                      |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Development of information and policy analyses | **Does not apply**  |
| that contribute to the effective use of        |                     |
| science and engineering resources.             |                     |
|                                                |                     |
| Comments:                                      |                     |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+

Provide one or more examples of NSF supported results with award numbers
to justify each selection above. For each example, provide a brief
narrative to explain the importance of the result in non-technical
terms. For each NSF example cited, include the following information:

> NSF Award Number
>
> PI Names
>
> PI Institutions
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis
>
> Source for Report

Comment on steps that the program should take to improve performance in
areas of the TOOLS goal.

B.3.b COV Questions related to TOOLS Areas of Emphasis

For each relevant area shown below, determine whether the program's
investments and available results demonstrate the likelihood of strong
performance in the future? Justify your argument by providing
NSF-supported examples of investment results (with grant numbers) that
relate to or demonstrate outcomes for the TOOLS goal and relevant
indicators in the space below the area of emphasis. If the area of
emphasis is not relevant to the activity, do not discuss.

+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+
| **TOOLS Areas of INVESTMENTS**                     | **Demonstrates  |
|                                                    | likelihood of   |
|                                                    | strong          |
|                                                    | performance in  |
|                                                    | future?**       |
|                                                    |                 |
|                                                    | **Select one:** |
|                                                    |                 |
|                                                    | **Yes, No,**    |
|                                                    |                 |
|                                                    | **Does Not      |
|                                                    | Apply or Data   |
|                                                    | Not Available** |
+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Major Research Equipment (MRE)                     | **Significant** |
|                                                    |                 |
| Comments:                                          |                 |
|                                                    |                 |
| The NHMFL has several state of the art research    |                 |
| instruments for producing high magnetic fields,    |                 |
| ultra-low temperatures, and many first rate        |                 |
| measurement instruments to use with them. It has   |                 |
| an aggressive engineering and fabrication program  |                 |
| that will insure it will remain a pre-eminent      |                 |
| world-class facility well into the future.         |                 |
+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program       | **Significant** |
|                                                    |                 |
| Comments:                                          |                 |
+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Science & Engineering information, reports, and    | **Significant** |
| databases                                          |                 |
|                                                    |                 |
| Comments:                                          |                 |
|                                                    |                 |
| The division has supported workshops that have     |                 |
| produced reports of significant interest to the    |                 |
| research community, ones that take a detailed look |                 |
| at progress and areas of opportunity in materials  |                 |
| research. The center reports are also valuable     |                 |
| resources.                                         |                 |
+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Scientific databases and tools for using them      | **Does not      |
|                                                    | apply**         |
| Comments:                                          |                 |
+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+
| National SMETE Digital Library                     | **Does not      |
|                                                    | apply**         |
| Comments:                                          |                 |
+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+

Provide one or more examples of NSF supported results with award numbers
to justify each selection above. For each example, provide a brief
narrative to explain the importance of the result in non-technical
terms. For each NSF example cited, include the following information:

> NSF Award Number
>
> PI Names
>
> PI Institutions
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis
>
> Source for Report
>
> Strong involvement of students and diversity: Award number
> DMR-0079578; Acquisition of a 200kV Field Emission Gun Transmission
> Electron Microscope
>
> PI Names: M.G. Knantizidis, J. Bass, M.A. Crimp, T.J. Pinnavaia, and
> M.A. Velbel
>
> PI Institutions: Michigan State University
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator: The TEM will be integrated into
> the existing Center for Electron Optics, one of the university
> facilities. This research center has a strong history in student
> research and diversity, in particular women scientists.
>
> NSF Award Number: DMR-0115852; Development of High Energy Resolution
> Inelastic X-ray Scattering Instrument for Materials Research and
> Education
>
> PI Names: P.W. Stephens, E.E. Alp, C. Burns, J.P. Hill, M.V. Klein
>
> PI Institutions: SUNY at Stony Brook
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator: The system with novel X-ray
> optics will provide an ultra-high energy resolution facility for
> inelastic X-ray scattering with high throughput. The instrument will
> offer unique insights into the dynamics of soft condensed matter
> systems. The project is a collaboration among 17 institutions
> including academia, national laboratories, and DOE. The proposal has a
> clear integration of research and education in both graduate and
> undergraduate levels. Diversity issue is also addressed.
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis: an ultra-high energy resolution facility
> for inelastic X-ray scattering to study polymers and soft materials
>
> Discoveries, Leadership, and Partnerships: NSF Award Number:
> DMR-0115852; Development of High Energy Resolution Inelastic X-ray
> Scattering Instrument for Materials Research and Education
>
> PI Names: P.W. Stephens, E.E. Alp, C. Burns, J.P. Hill, M.V. Klein
>
> PI Institutions: SUNY at Stony Brook
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator: The system with novel X-ray
> optics will provide an ultra-high energy resolution facility for
> inelastic X-ray scattering with high throughput. The instrument will
> offer unique insights into the dynamics of soft condensed matter
> systems. The project is a collaboration among 17 institutions
> including academia, national laboratories, and DOE.
>
> Relevant Area of Emphasis: Polymers and soft materials
>
> NSF Award Number: DMR-9975611, Development of an Ultralow Temperature
> Scanning Probe Microscopy System for Magnetic and Electrostatic
> Imaging
>
> PI Names: D.J. Van Harlingen, A. Yazdani
>
> PI Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
>
> Indicator: The proposed SPM will extend the capabilities for magnetic
> and electrostatic imaging to ultralow temperatures and high magnetic
> fields for the study of fundamental phenomena in condensed matter
> systems including unconventional superconductors, mesoscopic
> structures, and the two-dimensional electron gas.
>
> Nanoscale Science and Engineering: Award number DMR-0079578;
> Acquisition of a 200kV Field Emission Gun Transmission Electron
> Microscope
>
> PI Names: M.G. Knantizidis, J. Bass, M.A. Crimp, T.J. Pinnavaia, and
> M.A. Velbel
>
> PI Institutions: Michigan State University
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator: The TEM will be integrated into
> the existing Center for Electron Optics, one of the university
> facilities, and as such will be managed successfully. The TEM having
> 0.19 nm resolution, is an indispensable tool for nanoscale research.
>
> NSF Award Number: DMR-0079584; Development of a Dynamic Helium Atom
> Scattering Apparatus to Probe Nanoscale Surface Fluctuations
>
> PI Names: S.D. Kevan and G.S. Elliott
>
> PI Institutions: University of Oregon Eugene
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator: The proposed apparatus will be a
> prototype instrument, which is not currently available to study the
> surface fluctuation in nanoscale.
>
> Example for MRI: NSF Award Number DMR-0116585, PIs: Collin L. Broholm
> and Jeffrey W. Lynn, Johns Hopkins University partnership with NIST;
> Title: Development of High Intensity Cold Neutron Spectrometer with
> Multichannel Analyzer; The proposal demonstrates likelihood of strong
> performance in future by reducing the amount of time required to
> collect data, reducing cost, enabling work with smaller samples. The
> instrument will have two orders of magnitude higher sensitivity that
> the current one and will provide the direct measurement of magnetic
> interactions in thin films for the first time. The development of this
> instrument will make access to a large number of users in the US and
> the world possible.
>
> NSF Award Number: DMR-0115852; Development of High Energy Resolution
> Inelastic X-ray Scattering Instrument for Materials Research and
> Education
>
> PI Names: P.W. Stephens, E.E. Alp, C. Burns, J.P. Hill, M.V. Klein
>
> PI Institutions: SUNY at Stony Brook
>
> Relevant Performance Goal/Indicator: The system with novel X-ray
> optics will provide an ultra-high energy resolution facility for
> inelastic X-ray scattering with high throughput. The instrument will
> offer unique insights into the dynamics of soft condensed matter
> systems. The project is a collaboration among 17 institutions
> including academia, national laboratories, and DOE.

B.4 Please comment on any program areas in need of improvement.

Increased money for the division is strongly recommended. It is
important that core areas grow at the same rate as interdisciplinary
initiatives. This will provide the infrastructure to maintain US
leadership in science and technology (e.g. as manifested in the number
of Nobel Laureates and break-through technologies supported by the
Division). In many cases NIH research investments are based on NSF core
discoveries.

The COV specifically notes that while the size and duration of awards
have shown improvement over the last three years, these statistics
reflect trends averaged over many different types of programs. We urge
continued emphasis in this area so that the goal of an average *[single
investigator]{.underline}* grant size of \$130,000 to \$150,000 a year
over four years is attained as soon as possible.

B.5 Provide comments as appropriate on the program's performance in
meeting program-specific goals and objectives, which are not covered by
the above questions.

The division is doing an exceptional job with limited resources to
support people, ideas and tools. This is a critical component of the
support for fundamental research in materials at the nation's
universities and colleges

The COV believes very careful attention has to be given to the issue of
balance in the portfolio of programs supported by the division. The data
we examined suggest that the increments noted in investigator funding
levels may in fact reflect the components related to centers, special
initiatives, and thematic programs. This is an issue of some consequence
and the COV strongly recommends that a full assessment be made as to the
funding level trends as exist in the core single investigator awards.
The COV believes that it these programs that provide the essential
foundations on which all progress in research is built. It is essential
that the excellence embedded in this portion of the Divisions programs
not be forgotten or squeezed---indeed it must be advanced very strongly
to keep it relevant and effective---as a cost of the activities pursued
in other spheres of interest. This should be a major point of study for
the next COV.

**B.6 NSF would appreciate your comments for improvement of the COV
review process, format and report template.**

The COV noted one administrative issue that caused it very real concern.
The severe interpretations of the Foundation's rules on COI greatly
complicated this review and, in some regards, made it less effective
than it might otherwise have been. The issue of concern is that even
very distant associations made it impossible to associate the most
credible evaluators with the subjects they were best suited to review.
If our expertise could not be used in its most effective way in the
context of the COV review, one worries this limitation must affect other
major evaluations and reviews undertaken by the Foundation. Some method
has to be found to relax these overly burdensome COI constraints.

A frequently expressed complaint of the committee was much of section B
is \"make-work\",

where the COV is asked to repeat what NSF has already done in its GPRA
reports. New inputs are needed for this section and methods for gleaning
it that do not deflect the COV from its primary task of evaluating
files. It is suggested that the program directors provide PI's nuggets,
quadrant charts or final reports to facilitate pulling examples of
outstanding work. It was relatively hard to extract this information
from the limited number of reports available from the jackets. As a
result too much emphasis was given to the GRPA reports provided by NSF.
It is acknowledged that this would perhaps create undue work for the
program directors.

A spreadsheet for accumulating data from jackets (number of reviewers,
etc.) that go into the template would be useful.

The evaluation of centers and individual investigator grants do not lend
themselves to the merged report format envisioned in this version of a
COV template---the relevant procedures and metrics are simply too
different.

2002 Committee of Visitors

**Division of Materials Research**

# Chair

> Professor Venkatesh Narayanamurti
>
> Dept of Engineering & Applied Sciences
>
> Harvard University
>
> 29 Oxford Street

### Boston, MA 02138

> (617)495-5829
>
> <venky@deas.harvard.edu>

## Base Science Cluster

## (Condensed Matter Physics, Polymers, Solid-State Chemistry)

+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Dr. Kristin Bennett               | Professor Arturo Bronson          |
|                                   |                                   |
| Los Alamos Neutron Scattering     | Mechanical and Industrial         |
| Center                            | Engineering                       |
|                                   |                                   |
| Los Alamos National Laboratory    | U of Texas El Paso                |
|                                   |                                   |
| MS H-805                          | 500 W. University Ave.            |
|                                   |                                   |
| Los Alamos, NM 87545              | El Paso, TX 79968                 |
|                                   |                                   |
| (505)665-4047                     | (915)747-6931                     |
|                                   |                                   |
| <bennett@lanl.gov>                | <bronson@materials.utep.edu>      |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Dr. Ulf E. Israelsson             | Dr. Raymond D. Mountain           |
|                                   |                                   |
| Jet Propulsion Laboratory         | National Institute of Standards   |
|                                   | and Technology                    |
| Mailstop 233-200                  |                                   |
|                                   | 100 Bureau Drive Stop 8380        |
| Pasadena, CA 91109                |                                   |
|                                   | Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8380       |
| \(818\) 354 9255                  |                                   |
|                                   | (301)975-2484                     |
| <ulf@squid.jpl.nasa.gov>          |                                   |
|                                   | <raymond.mountain@nist.gov>       |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Professor Ralph G. Nuzzo          | Professor Susan Trolier-McKinstry |
|                                   |                                   |
| Department of Chemistry           | 151 Materials Research Laboratory |
|                                   |                                   |
| University of Illinois,           | Penn State University University  |
| Urbana-Champaign                  | Park                              |
|                                   |                                   |
| 600 South Mathews Avenue          | University Park, PA 16802         |
|                                   |                                   |
| Urbana, IL 61801                  | (814)863-8348                     |
|                                   |                                   |
| (217)244-0809                     | <STMcKinstry@mrl.psu.edu>         |
|                                   |                                   |
| <r-nuzzo@uiuc.edu>                |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Professor David B. Williams       |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| Vice Provost for Research         |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| Lehigh University                 |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| Alumni Memorial Building          |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| 27 Memorial Drive West            |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| Bethlehem, PA 18015-3085          |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| \(610\) 758-6120                  |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| <dbw1@lehigh.edu>                 |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

**Advanced Materials and Processing Cluster**

**(Metals, Ceramics and Electronic Materials)**

+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Professor Harry A. Atwater        | Professor Allen M. Goldman        |
|                                   |                                   |
| Department of Applied Physics     | School of Physics and Astronomy   |
|                                   |                                   |
| California Institute of           | University of Minnesota           |
| Technology                        |                                   |
|                                   | 116 Church St. SE                 |
| MS 128-95                         |                                   |
|                                   | Minneapolis, MN 55455             |
| 1200 E. California Blvd.          |                                   |
|                                   | \(612\) 624-6062                  |
| Pasadena, CA 91125                |                                   |
|                                   | <goldman@physics.umn.edu>         |
| (626)395-2197                     |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| <haa@its.caltech.edu>             |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Professor Jing Li                 | Dr. Chain-Tsuan Liu               |
|                                   |                                   |
| Department of Chemistry           | Materials & Ceramics Division     |
|                                   |                                   |
| Rutgers University                | Oak Ridge National Laboratory     |
|                                   |                                   |
| 315 Penn Street                   | P.O. Box 2008-6115                |
|                                   |                                   |
| Camden, NJ 08102                  | Oak Ridge, TN 37831               |
|                                   |                                   |
| (856)225-6160                     | \(865\) 574-4459                  |
|                                   |                                   |
| <jingli@crab.rutgers.edu>         | <liuct@ornl.gov>                  |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Professor Lon J. Mathias          | Professor Fernando A. Ponce       |
|                                   |                                   |
| Department of Polymer Science     | Department of Physics & Astronomy |
|                                   |                                   |
| School of Polymers and High       | Arizona State University          |
| Performance                       |                                   |
|                                   | P.O. Box 871504                   |
| University of Southern            |                                   |
| Mississippi                       | Tempe, AZ 85287-1504              |
|                                   |                                   |
| University Station 10076          | (480)727-6260                     |
|                                   |                                   |
| Hattiesburg,, MS 39406-0076       | <ponce@asu.edu>                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| (601)266-4871                     |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| <lon.mathias@usm.edu>             |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Professor Myriam P. Sarachik      |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| Department of Physics             |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| City College of CUNY              |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| 138th St.& Convent Ave.           |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| New York, NY 10031                |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| (212)650-5618                     |                                   |
|                                   |                                   |
| <sarachik@sci.ccny.cuny.edu>      |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

**Materials Research and Technology Enabling Cluster**

**(Materials Theory, Materials Research Science and Engineering
Centers,**

**and National Facilities and Instrumentation)**

+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Professor Shenda M. Baker         | Professor Leonard J. Brillson     |
|                                   |                                   |
| Department of Chemistry           | The Ohio State University         |
|                                   |                                   |
| Harvey Mudd College               | 205 Dreese Laboratory             |
|                                   |                                   |
| 301 East 12th Street              | 2015 Neil Ave.                    |
|                                   |                                   |
| Claremont, CA 91711-5990          | Columbus, OH 43210-1272           |
|                                   |                                   |
| (909)621-8643                     | (614)292-8015                     |
|                                   |                                   |
| [[]{#_Hlk535751469                | <brillson.1@osu.edu>              |
| .anchor}shen                      |                                   |
| da\_](#_Hlk535751469)[baker](mail |                                   |
| to:shenda_baker@hmc.edu)\@hmc.edu |                                   |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Dr. James D. Chadi                | Dr. George H. Gilmer              |
|                                   |                                   |
| NEC Research Institute            | Lawrence Livermore National       |
|                                   | Laboratory                        |
| 4 Independence Way                |                                   |
|                                   | 7000 East Ave.                    |
| Princeton, NJ 08540-6634          |                                   |
|                                   | Livermore, CA 94550-9234          |
| (609)951-2600                     |                                   |
|                                   | \(925\) 423-0697                  |
| <chadi@research.nj.nec.com>       |                                   |
|                                   | <gilmer1@llnl.gov>                |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Dr. Fiona Goodchild               | Dr. Keith Jackson                 |
|                                   |                                   |
| Materials Research Lab Building   | Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory      |
|                                   |                                   |
| University of California-Santa    | Center for X-ray Optics           |
| Barbara                           |                                   |
|                                   | Mail Stop 2-400                   |
| Room 2202                         |                                   |
|                                   | 1Cyclotron Rd                     |
| Santa Barbara, CA 93106           |                                   |
|                                   | Berkeley, CA 94720                |
| (805)893-5314                     |                                   |
|                                   | (510)486-6894                     |
| <fiona@mrl.ucsb.edu>              |                                   |
|                                   | <KHJackson@lbl.gov>               |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+
| Professor Douglas D. Osheroff     | Professor Supapan Seraphin        |
|                                   |                                   |
| Department of Physics             | Dept. Materials Science and       |
|                                   | Engineering                       |
| Stanford University               |                                   |
|                                   | 1235 E. North Campus Drive, Mines |
| Stanford, CA 94305-4060           | 131                               |
|                                   |                                   |
| (650)723-4228                     | Tucson, AZ 85721                  |
|                                   |                                   |
| <osheroff@leland.stanford.edu>    | \(520\) 621-6075                  |
|                                   |                                   |
|                                   | <Seraphin@u.arizona.edu>          |
+-----------------------------------+-----------------------------------+

**Letter from Assistant Director to Members of FY 2002 Committee of
Visitors**

January 22, 2002

«Address»

Dear «Salutation»:

Thank you for agreeing to serve on the Committee of Visitors (COV) for
the Division of Materials Research of the National Science Foundation
(NSF). By NSF policy, programs that award grants or cooperative
agreements are reviewed at three-year intervals by a COV. The COV is an
*ad hoc* subcommittee of the Advisory Committee (MPSAC) for the
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. The purpose of the
COV is to assess program-level technical and managerial matters
pertaining to program decisions.

The COV is charged to address:

-   The integrity, efficacy, and quality of the processes used to
    solicit, review, recommend and document proposal actions and monitor
    active projects;

-   The quality and significance of the results of the Division's
    programmatic investments;

-   The degree to which the award process supports the long range goals
    and core strategies of the NSF as described in **NSF** **FY
    2001-2006 Strategic Plan** (September 30, 2000) that addresses the
    **Government Performance and Results Act of 1993** (GPRA). These
    documents and other background on GPRA may be found at
    <http://www.nsf.gov/od/gpra/start.htm>. A framework for addressing
    this issue will be provided at the time of the COV meeting;

-   The Division's balance, priorities, and future directions; and,

-   Any other issues you think are relevant to the review.

Decisions to award or decline grant proposals are based on the informed
judgment of program officers and division directors following merit
review. Systematic examination of proposal files by qualified external
parties provides an independent mechanism of monitoring and evaluating
the quality and pertinence of proposal decisions. This examination is
part of the job of the COV.

The review will assess the operations of the programs of the Division of
Materials Research during the fiscal years 1999, 2000, and 2001. The COV
will examine a sample of files for both awarded and declined proposals
in each program. Each COV member will participate in two sessions; one
in which the COV member examines files in their area of expertise; and,
one in which the COV member examines files in another area of the
Division of Materials Research. The Division of Materials Research is
organized into three clusters: (1) Basic Science Cluster (Condensed
Matter Physics, Polymers and Solid-State Chemistry), (2) Advanced
Materials and Processing Cluster (Metals, Ceramics and Electronic
Materials), and (3) Materials Research and Technology Enabling Cluster
(Materials Theory, Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers,
and National Facilities and Instrumentation).

The meeting of the Division of Materials Research COV will take place on
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, April 10-12, 2002 at the National
Science Foundation located at 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington,
Virginia. The COV will convene at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, in Room 555
Stafford II (adjacent to the NSF building), and will adjourn about 5:00
PM on Friday.

The staff of the Division of Materials Research will handle details and
background materials for the COV. An agenda, a list of COV members, and
other information will be provided to you prior to the meeting.

The COV should transmit its report, addressing the charge, to Prof.
Billy Joe Evans, Chair of the MPSAC, and to the MPSAC for its review and
acceptance by April 26, 2002. Prof. Evans will forward the report to me
with any comments that the MPSAC may have. In accordance with NSF
policy, I will provide a response setting forth any actions to be taken
on each suggestion or recommendation. Both the COV report and my
response will be forwarded to the Director of the NSF.

Dr. Thomas A. Weber, Director of the Division of Materials Research, and
Dr. W. Lance Haworth, Executive Officer of the Division, will provide
you further information that you will need to conduct this review. Mrs.
Ethel Watson, Division Secretary, will contact you with regard to
travel, housing and logistics. If you have any questions, please contact
Dr. Weber (703 292-4915), Dr. Haworth (703 292-4916), or Mrs. Watson
(703 292-4919).

Sincerely yours,

Robert A. Eisenstein

Assistant Director

CC: Billy Joe Evans, Chair MPSAC

**[National Science Foundation]{.smallcaps}**

**4201 Wilson Boulevard**

# Arlington, Virginia 22230

# 

#  Division of Materials Research

**June 6, 2002**

**Memorandum**

**To: Morris Aizenman, O/AD MPS**

**From: Thomas A. Weber, DD DMR**

**Subject: Division of Materials Research Committee of Visitors**

> The Division of Materials Research held its triennial Committee of
> Visitors (COV) meeting on April 10-12, 2002. The Committee consisted
> of 22 members chosen from a broad cross-section of the materials
> research community. Seven members were women and two members were from
> underrepresented minorities. Although the Division sought a larger
> representation from underrepresented minorities, many were unavailable
> to attend the meeting and one minority member had to cancel the week
> before the meeting due to a heart attack. Membership was also broadly
> distributed across research universities, undergraduate institutions,
> and national laboratories.
>
> Senior Science Associate M. Aizenman briefed the Committee on conflict
> of interests related to the task of the COV, including reading of
> proposals, reviews and recommendations. Members were told to reveal to
> program officers any conflict or potential conflict of interest. Each
> Committee member completed an NSF Conflict of Interest form. Committee
> members with conflicts of interest with an institution or individual
> were not given files from those institutions or individuals. They also
> were instructed not to participate in discussions regarding those
> individuals or institutions.
>
> The Division staff felt that the COV and the Chair Professor Venkatesh
> Narayanamurti did an excellent job of assessing the Division\'s
> programs and procedures. They carried out their task with fairness,
> thoroughness, expertise, and thoughtfulness. The Division staff did
> not detect any situations where conflicts of interest were not handled
> properly. The Division was pleased with the quality, professionalism,
> and thoroughness of the COV report and its findings.

**MEMORANDUM**

01 May 2002

To: MPS Advisory Committee

> From: Robert A. Eisenstein, AD/MPS
>
> Subject: Response to the Division of Materials Research Committee of
> Visitors Report

Please find attached the MPS response to the Committee of Visitors (COV)
report from the 10-12 April 2002 COV review of the Division of Materials
Research. The review was thorough and insightful, and the findings will
be very helpful to me and to the Divisions of Materials Research in
fulfilling our responsibilities to the scientific community and to the
nation. The reports also provide a GPRA assessment of the degree to
which the Division of Materials Research met its performance objectives.

> The Division of Materials Research drafted the attached response, and
> I concur with its content. I therefore adopt it as the official
> response of the MPS Directorate. I hope the full MPS Advisory
> Committee finds this COV review and the NSF response useful and
> acceptable.
>
> Division of Materials Research
>
> National Science Foundation
>
> Arlington, VA
>
> [Memorandum]{.smallcaps}
>
> Date : May 1, 2002
>
> To : Dr. Robert A. Eisenstein
>
> From : Director, Division of Materials Research

Subject : Response to the 2002 DMR Committee of Visitors Report

> I would like to express my sincere thanks to the members of the 2002
> Committee of Visitors (COV) for the Division of Materials Research
> (DMR) for the thoughtful, insightful, and fair report that they have
> produced. Chairman Narayanamurti and his colleagues have provided a
> document that contains substantive and very useful recommendations. I
> have read the report closely, and I intend to follow up on the
> suggestions therein.
>
> [Overall Findings:]{.underline} *We would like to commend the Division
> and its program directors for running an outstanding program
> consistent with broad national and NSF objectives in all areas
> vis-à-vis People, Ideas and Tools. The DMR and MPS management clearly
> responded to the issues raised by the last COV and considerable
> progress was noted in the area of merit review criteria, particularly
> of criteria II, use of which has steadily increased. We continue to
> find the Program Directors (PD's) overworked and were pleased to note
> that two additional slots have been authorized. The size and duration
> of awards have shown improvement over the last three years and we urge
> continued emphasis in this area so that the goal of median (not mean)
> grant size of \$130,000 to \$150,000 a year over four years is
> attained as soon as possible.*
>
> I share the concern of the COV that the size and duration of awards is
> still inadequate. As the COV has pointed out the Division Director's
> Reserve has been used to increase the median grant size. I will
> continue to put half of any increase over \$20,000 into the program
> from the reserve until the median annualized grant size reaches at
> least \$150,000 per year. In addition, the grant duration is currently
> at 3.4 years and I will continue to encourage Program Directors to
> increase the average duration to four years over the next three years
> which is more in line with the time which it takes to educate a
> graduate student.
>
> [Balance of Programs:]{.underline} *The DMR has basically two major
> pieces: (1) individual investigators and small groups (3 PI's or less)
> and; (2) large centers and instrumentation facilities. We did not have
> time to look at the balance between the individual investigator/ small
> group activities vs. the larger initiatives and centers. We believe
> this balance should be looked at carefully by the next COV. In the
> meantime, we hope that all efforts will be made to make sure that
> individual investigators/small group awards are not squeezed in
> relation to other major national initiatives. At the same time, we
> would like to express our enthusiastic support for the increasing
> levels of interdisciplinary and collaborative programs in DMR.*
>
> Much of the current NSF emphasis on the multidisciplinary initiatives
> in priority has put additional pressure on available funds for core
> programs. Efforts will be made to increase the core funding of the
> individual investigator portfolio. In addition, within a year I will
> convene a special emphasis panel of experts to study the issue of
> balance within the portfolio and make recommendations to the division.
>
> [Director's Reserve Fund:]{.underline} *We were generally very pleased
> with the usage of the Director's Reserve Fund as a means to foster the
> broader goals of the foundation, to fund higher risk
> multi-disciplinary projects, to grow the size of awards, to encourage
> diversity and to enhance the coupling of education and research.*
>
> I concur with this and find it a very useful tool to accomplish the
> Foundation's goals of increasing diversity, etc., and intend to
> continue this innovation.
>
> [Staffing Issues:]{.underline} *As mentioned in the overall findings,
> the workload for the PD's is very high. With the growth of
> interdisciplinary programs and collaborations this workload is further
> exacerbated. We recommend that further attention be paid to providing
> adequate staffing levels in DMR from the highest management of the
> foundation. Even though the policy of rotation of PD's is a good one,
> the ceramics area has suffered from high turnover. Providing stability
> for this area is important. We also note that one or two minority
> members amongst the PD's are likely to leave soon due to the policy of
> rotation. Given the small pool of candidates, we feel it is important
> that extra effort be made to maintain diversity amongst the PD's in
> DMR.*
>
> As noted by the COV, the division will have two new Program Directors
> starting soon. This should help to alleviate some of the current
> workload. In the coming year, other recruitments will be initiated to
> try to hire another minority Program Director. In addition, I will
> pursue obtaining a permanent Program Director for the Ceramics
> Program.
>
> [PD Judgment:]{.underline} *We were generally pleased to note how
> carefully the Program Directors had documented the rationale for
> funding. The peer review system can sometimes lead to very
> conservative modes of funding. In evolving scientific areas with high
> risk, this judgment has to be provided by the PD after input from
> reviewers and PI's. We found positive evidence for funding by program
> directors for higher risk projects. We encourage this trend.*
>
> I will continue to encourage the high standards thus far achieved,
> including judicious support for high-risk projects.
>
> [Reviewer Pool:]{.underline} *We are concerned with the small number
> of industrial and national lab reviewers (\~ 5%). As detailed in the
> report, we recommend that special efforts be made to enlarge this
> pool.*
>
> With the slow demise of major industrial research institutions such as
> Bell Laboratories and IBM, it has become much more difficult to find
> industrial reviewers in areas such as Condensed Matter Physics. In
> addition, in some fields the pool of underrepresented scientists is
> quite small. Efforts will be made in the coming years to increase the
> use of industrial and national laboratory reviewers by stressing to
> the Program Directors the importance of increasing their numbers.
>
> [COV Process:]{.underline} *The Division of the review panel into 3
> major clusters (Basic Sciences, Centers and Facilities, and Materials)
> was generally viewed with favor. However, the very strict
> interpretations of the Foundation's rules on COI greatly complicated
> this review and in some regards made it less effective than it might
> otherwise have been. If our expertise could not be used in its most
> effective way in the context of the COV review, one worries this
> limitation must effect other major evaluations and reviews undertaken
> by the NSF. Some method has to be found to relax these very burdensome
> constraints. There are also other detailed suggestions for improvement
> in the COV process in section B6.*
>
> One issue noted by the COV was that the very strict interpretation of
> the Foundation's rules on COI greatly complicated the review. This
> rule states that "no one with an action under consideration in a
> program could review that program". This requirement effectively
> eliminated anyone who was funded by a program since a yearly or final
> progress report constitutes an action under consideration. This issue
> will be brought to the attention of the Office of General Counsel to
> see if the wording can be changed to refer to "a proposal under
> consideration in the program," thus relaxing a very burdensome
> constraint.
>
> As detailed in section B6, the COV found it difficult to find
> additional nuggets, other than those examples cited in the Program
> Director Annual Reports, to include in the reporting template. To make
> it easier for the COV members chose other nuggets, I have asked each
> Program Director to compile a CD of nuggets from all of the projects,
> which they fund. These will be distributed to each member of the next
> COV.

Office of the Assistant Director for

**[Mathematical and Physical Sciences]{.smallcaps}**

**[Advisory Committee membership list]{.smallcaps}**

National Science Foundation

4201 Wilson Boulevard

### Arlington, VA 22230

# Term Expires 10/1/02

Dr. Ronald G. Brisbois

Chemistry Department

Macalester College

1600 Grand Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55105-1899

651-696-6270

651-696-6432 (FAX)

<brisbois@macalester.edu>

Dr. Tony Chan

Department of Mathematics

6363 Math Sciences Building

Box 951555

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1555

310-794-7610 or 4755

310-825-4756 (FAX)

<chan@math.ucla.edu>

Dr. Billy Joe Evans[^1]

Department of Chemistry

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

930 North University Avenue

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1055

734-763-4228

734-647-4865 (FAX)

<bjemag@umich.edu>

#### 

#### 

#### **Ex-Officio Member**

Dr. Arturo Bronson

Director, Materials Center for

Synthesis and Processing

University of Texas, El Paso

Burges Hall #319

El Paso, TX 79968

915-747-7577

915-747-6601 (FAX)

<bronson@materials.utep.edu>

###### Term Expires 10/1/03

Dr. S. James Gates, Jr.

Physics Department

Room 4125

University of Maryland

College Park MD 20742-4111

301-405-6025

301-314-9525 (FAX)

[gatess@wam.umd.edu](../gatess@wam.umd.edu)

\[Dr. Gates is on sabbatical at CalTech\] Contact information:

Dr. S. James Gates, Jr.

California Institute of Technology

Lauritsen Laboratory, Room 440

Mail Code 452-48

Pasadena, CA 91125

626-395-2630

626-568-8473

[gatess@wam.umd.edu](../gatess@wam.umd.edu)

Dr. Fiona Goodchild

Education Outreach Director

Materials Research Laboratory

University of California at Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106

805-893-5314

805-893-8767 (FAX)

<fiona@mrl.ucsb.edu>

Dr. Lon Mathias

Department of Polymer Science

University of Southern Mississippi

P.O. Box 10076

Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0076

601-266-4871

601-266-5635 (FAX)

[lon.mathias@usm.edu](../Lon.Mathias@usm.edu)

Dr. Julia Phillips

Deputy Director

Materials Science & Technologies

P.O. Box 5800, MS 0885

Sandia National Laboratories

Albuquerque, NM 87185-0885

505-844-1071

505-284-3093 (FAX)

[jmphill@sandia.gov](../jmphill@sandia.gov)

Dr. David Siegmund

Department of Statistics

Mail Code 4065

390 Serra Mall

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305

650-723-0598

650-725-8977 (FAX)

[siegmund@stanford.edu](../siegmund@stanford.edu)

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Director, Hayden Planetarium

American Museum of Natural History

Central Park West at 79th St.

New York, NY 10024-5192

212-769-5912

212-769-5007 (FAX)

[tyson@astro.amnh.org](../tyson@astro.amnh.org)

**Term Expires 10/1/04**

Dr. Thomas W. Appelquist

Department of Physics

Yale University

New Haven, CT 06520\
203-432-4771

203-432-5419 (FAX)

email: [thomas.appelquist@yale.edu\
]{.underline}

Dr. Roger D. Blandford

Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA 91125

626-395-4200

626-796-5675 (FAX)\
email: [rdb@caltech.edu]{.underline}

Dr. Robert C. Hilborn

Department of Physics

Amherst College

Amherst MA 01002-5000\
413-542-2062

413-542-5821 (FAX)

[rchilborn@amherst.edu\
]{.underline}

Dr. Jeanne E. Pemberton

Department of Chemistry

University of Arizona

1306 E. University Boulevard

Tucson, Arizona 85721-0041\
520-621-8245

520-621-8248 (FAX)

[pembertn@u.arizona.edu]{.underline}

Dr. William R. Pulleyblank

Director, Mathematical Sciences and

Director, Deep Computing Institute

T. J. Watson Research Center\
914-945-3323

914-945-4206 (FAX)

[pblk@us.ibm.com]{.underline}

Dr. Joseph Salah

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory,

Route 40

Westford, Massachusetts 01886

781-981-5407

781-981-0590 (FAX)

[jsalah@haystack.mit.edu](../jsalah@haystack.mit.edu)

[^1]: ^^ Chair