[1][3] The modern study of materials intersects many of the traditional scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, engineering, and increasingly the biosciences and mathematics.
Past exceptions were the successful collaborative approaches leading to the intense technological developments during the Second World War, including the military and peaceful applications of nuclear energy production.
The launch of the Russian space satellite Sputnik on October 4, 1957, profoundly impacted how scientific and technological research was conducted in the United States.
In addition, the National Defense Education Act of 1958 sought to increase the number of trained engineers, scientists, and mathematicians.
[4] This report led, by Executive Order of President Eisenhower on March 13, 1959, to the formation of the Federal Council for Science and Technology.
The establishment of such laboratories in an academic environment arose naturally from the demands of the post-Sputnik era for a large, highly trained, scientific workforce.
In addition, to the building of new facilities infrastructure these centers of excellence led to the training of not only materials scientists, but also physicists, chemists, engineers and other professionals.
[5][2] The National Academy study[6] noted that though the IDLs were considered a success, there was room for growth of interdisciplinary collaborations among faculty from disparate university departments.
[5][2] In late 1969 an amendment to the Military Authorization Act, sponsored by Senator Mike Mansfield, placed restrictions on the funding of long-term basic research by agencies of the Department of Defense, including ARPA/DARPA.
Most importantly, the new component added by NSF was that 'scientific excellence is viewed as a necessary, but no longer sufficient, condition to qualify for MRL core support.'
In addition, the MRLs would be judged by their ability to foster 'coherent, multidisciplinary and multi-investigator projects requiring the expertise of two or more materials related disciplines.'
These so-called thrust groups are the heart of the current core funding at MRLs; at their best they have achieved a transformation in the way materials research is done at universities and in the way graduate education proceeds.
Laboratories terminated in 1994 and 1996 were eligible to participate in competition with other institutions for the new Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSECs) in 1994 and 1996, respectively.
This trend was initiated by the IDLs but greatly strengthened by the MRL program because of the new NSF guidelines concerning requirements for interdisciplinarity.
[5][2] The mid-1980s saw a convergence of a number of favorable trends for the establishments of NSF center based activities in a wide range of fields.
There was a strong interest in government investments in basic science that could be leveraged by matching funds from industry and other sources.
"[4][11] It was pointed out by William O. Baker that the above comments about the economic potential of the ERCs are nearly the same as those describing the original IDLs in the early 1960s.
Baker concludes that "it is refreshing indeed to find such current agreement on the concept that has involved so significant a portion of our best academic talent.
Institutions with awards made under the Materials Research Group (MRG) program, which was initiated at NSF in 1984, were eligible to participate in the competition.
Importantly, new MRSEC awards were made to six institutions that never had any substantial NSF center or large group support in materials research.
"[9] The report lists a number of key areas where the MRSEC program has an impact, including providing the resources and environment that fosters:[9] Among the report's recommendations are an increase in the grant size of the centers, which would allow adequate resources for education and outreach, while ensuring that the support for research activities is not compromised.
[1] The report concludes that such a network, once fully established, would "strengthen materials science and engineering in the United States as a discipline and as a factor in U.S.