Strategy for the future

The Pennsylvania State University at University Park is one of the most dominant materials research institutions in the US with more than $65 million in sponsored materials research funding for fiscal year 2002 [1], and possessing more than twice the number of most highly cited researchers in materials science of any university worldwide [2]. The Materials Research Institute (MRI), an interdisciplinary consortium at Penn State, integrates and leads these activities across the university and maintains world-class facilities to support them. More than 200 faculty and 500 graduate students are engaged in materials research, along with nearly 200 postdoctoral and visiting scientists. This high concentration of faculty and experts at the university has facilitated the formation of cohesive teams to meet specific materials research goals.