The need for interdisciplinary materials science research

Materials research involves discovering and designing new materials, analyzing their structures and properties, and explaining the origin of their behaviors. To create advanced materials that benefit society, scientists need a fundamental understanding of materials down to the molecular, atomic, and even subatomic levels. This requires knowledge of physics, chemistry, and engineering.

The South Carolina Materials Research Network (SMaRt) provides a venue for researchers to share their research work, enhance collaboration for improved outputs, and establish a scholarly community for interdisciplinary interaction.

How we collaborate

To foster collaborative interdisciplinary research and education in materials research, SMaRt promotes collaboration not only among USC faculty trained in different disciplines but also between USC researchers and researchers from other universities, industry, and government and nonprofit organizations. Collaborative research is encouraged through faculty co-advising graduate students, sharing experimental and computational facilities, initiating new projects via team proposal development, and engaging in outreach activities to the public and other stakeholders to promote materials research and increase public understanding of materials.