Materials Research Institute

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A group of people standing in front of the Materials Research Institute entrance cutting a ribbon

Penn State, Kurt J. Lesker Company partner to advance atomic-scale processing

September 10, 2026

A man in a suit speaking into a microphone to the right of a blue projected slide that reads "Penn State Critical Minerals and Materials Workshop"

Critical minerals and materials workshop fosters collaboration, partnerships

September 09, 2026

Photo of Rebecca Napolitano

$1.5M NSF grant to support K-12 learning with real-world educational dataset

September 09, 2026

Two men running tests in a materials lab.

Penn State, Battalion launch research collaboration focused on national security

September 02, 2026

A tiny mirror mounted on a gold background

Tiny mirror controls light in 3D, could make microscopes smaller and faster

August 31, 2026

Young man in a suit and tie and glasses posing outside

Penn State doctoral student earns Corning honor for research into stronger glass

August 17, 2026

A researcher applies the printable RTLR hydrogel to a test participant’s skin.

Printable hydrogel enables wearable health sensors that multitask

August 14, 2026

A researcher figure showing six microscopic images of cell clusters, or islets. The top three images show islets with a relatively smooth texture, while the bottom three images show cells with a rough texture as a result of the team's new research development

Cell ‘invisibility cloaks’ could offer side-effect-free diabetes treatment

August 14, 2026

$12M grant to build animal-inspired sensing for autonomous drones and robots

August 10, 2026

man and woman working in a physics lab

NSF funding supports Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium's next chapter

August 03, 2026

Close up of a person's chest, wearing a olive green sleeveless shirt, with a sensor attached to it.

Stretchable antenna keeps wearable health sensors in tune with human health

July 24, 2026

Old main with trees in shadows

Penn State awarded $20M to lead an NSF ‘programmable cloud laboratory’

July 23, 2026

A close up shot of a bioelectrode painted to look like a shark on the side of a researcher's curled fist

Paintable electrodes could power creative and colorful wearable sensors

July 13, 2026

A scientific figure illustrating how different atomic arrangements of the same material can lead to substantially changes in corrosion susceptibility, with one simulated material appearing much more corroded than the other two examples

Metals’ atomic arrangement can create ‘corrosion highways’ in nuclear reactors

July 13, 2026

A photo taken in a lab shows a close up of two gloves hands interacting with a small, finger-size circuit board placed on the base of a microscope

Quantum material opens new path for studying unusual electronic behavior

July 09, 2026

a collage of multiple photos, including participants watching panels and speaking with one another at a banquet.

Penn State hosts manufacturing research conference with record attendance

July 06, 2026

A researcher in a white lab coat and safety glasses operates a large mechanical testing machine in a laboratory to test the strength of concrete

New design approach may help slash the price of ultra-durable concrete

June 26, 2026

Young man working in a lab

Thawing ground, future questions: Decoding Arctic climate in a Pennsylvania lab

June 26, 2026

Illustration depicting a microfabricated atomic vapor cell, with atoms trapped within glass cavities on a chip

Glass cells of atoms offer a new path to smarter, cheaper sensors

June 26, 2026

woman in purple shirt looks through telescope

Penn State ranks No. 20 in space science in US News 2026-27 'Global Universities'

June 24, 2026

Woman peering through lab equipment

Air Force award supports research on electronics that can survive extremes

June 22, 2026

Close-up view of sensors and radar on roof of black autonomous driving vehicle (self-driving car or driverless car).

Artificial eyes could bring human-like sight to self-driving cars, robots

June 09, 2026

50 years recognition

Faculty member marks 50 years of service with College of Agricultural Sciences

June 01, 2026

Two scientists in a lab

New industry partnerships focus on enhancing state workforce, innovation

May 28, 2026

Physics REU students pose in front of the APS sign at a conference

Visiting students explore sustainability through physics REU program

May 26, 2026

EEG electrodes in the scalp of a human subject

Novel biogel may solve a hairy problem for wearable brain-monitoring systems

May 22, 2026

A bioelectronic sensor sits laid out on a researcher's fingertip, showing it's small scale.

Stretchy implants could stick to arteries to treat high blood pressure

May 15, 2026

Image of a person smiling in a white shirt and brown jacket

Remembering Herbert A. McKinstry, materials research pioneer

May 13, 2026

The 2025-26 Roe Award winners at the recognition ceremony stand on a stage with their awards against a projected slideshow background.

Penn State Sustainability celebrates 2026 sustainability award winners

May 08, 2026

Person in a jacket and tie standing in front of the Materials Research Institute at University Park.

Materials science and engineering professor Joshua Robinson named MRI director

May 06, 2026

Old Main at University Park campus with a green lawn and an American flag nearby

33 faculty members earn Opportunity Grant Awards

April 29, 2026

Nitin Samarth in front of metal equipment

Physicist Nitin Samarth elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 22, 2026

Four people pose with a colorful image

Winners announced for 18th annual Materials Visualization Competition

April 09, 2026

Scientific figure showcasing a cell-based spheroid shaping together into a dense, strong structure

WATCH: Cell ‘snowball’ may be answer to large-scale tissue engineering

April 06, 2026

Exterior of Old Main

Henry Luce Foundation to fund program focused on supporting women STEM faculty

April 01, 2026

Circular image of thin film sample of iron telluride, which appears as double cross shaped dark area on clear backing.

Superconductivity switched on in material once thought only magnetic

April 01, 2026

A video demonstration showing a hand in the corner controlling a robotic prosthetic hand. The robot grips and moves some household objects, including a brush and a knife.

Q&A: Robots can’t feel; these sensors could change that

March 30, 2026

Stylized image of a semiconductor chip with lights shooting out

April 8 webinar tackles glass manufacturing challenges

March 27, 2026

Nikki Crowley and Santhosh Girirajan speaking at the Village during Brain Awareness Week.

Q&A: Brain health and neuroscience research

March 27, 2026

Two researchers in front of a computer, injecting a substance onto a sensory ship.

'Smart' bandage tracks wound status in real-time

March 26, 2026

Photo of Aida Ebrahimi and Vinay Kammarchedu in a science lab looking through a microscope at sensors built with their new transistor design.

Novel sensing technology 20 times more responsive, even in liquids

March 17, 2026

Image of semiconductors in a plasma environment

Atom-thin material could help solve chip manufacturing problem  

March 10, 2026

Anirban Chowdhury and Dipanjan Sen work in the lab, moving a thermal sensor into an imaging system.

Tiny thermometers offer on-chip temperature monitoring for processors

March 06, 2026

Seedlings leading to a lit light bulb

2026-27 Huck Seed Grant Program opens call for proposals

March 04, 2026

Allison Beese in the foreground, with laboratory instruments in the background

Allison Beese named senior associate director of National Security Institute

February 26, 2026

Two researchers side by side

Two Penn State professors elected to National Academy of Engineering

February 23, 2026

Enrique Gomez stands in a lab testing a sample in a cyrogenic-electron microscope

Stretchy plastics conduct electricity via tiny, whisker-like fibers

February 20, 2026

Clear sheet over the vintage Penn State athletic mark

New plastic material could solve energy storage challenge, researchers report

February 18, 2026

Nutifafa Doumon and Souk Yoon “John” Kim

Additive may strengthen organic solar cells

February 16, 2026

A young man and a young woman demonstrate an experiment to make bouncy balls

Bouncy balls and beyond: Collaborative project connects science with community

January 30, 2026

Dor Tillinger, doctoral candidate of mechanical engineering, and Donbae Lee, doctoral candidate of engineering science and mechanics, dressed in lab coats using lab equipment.

Electric eel biology inspires powerful gel battery

January 28, 2026

Nano soccer balls image

Now accepting submissions for 18th annual Materials Visualization Competition

January 27, 2026

Image of the ZENN theory

From brain scans to alloys: Teaching AI to make sense of complex research data

January 12, 2026

Person in lab coat and glasses operating a lab machine and looking at a monitor

Q&A: Growing novel ultra-pure materials for tomorrow’s electronics

January 09, 2026

Two Penn State professors named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

January 07, 2026

image of the Millennium Science Complex at sunset

Materials Research Institute seed grants aim to spark interdisciplinary research

December 22, 2025

Dipanjan Pan named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

December 22, 2025

Engineering professor receives DOE Early Career Research Program Award

December 17, 2025

Thandazile Moyo is an assistant professor in Penn State's Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering.

Convening showcases Penn State’s leadership in critical minerals

December 16, 2025

colorful leaphopper sitting on a leaf

Backyard insect inspires large-scale invisibility particles production

December 12, 2025

Diagram showing zentropy's affect on electro-optic ceramics

Transparent ceramic could boost internet speeds and cut energy use

December 12, 2025

Illustration showing oil droplets reaching out arms toward treasure chest with amino acids diffusing toward the droplets

In brief: Like living cells, oil-in-water droplets reach out with 'arms'

December 09, 2025

Six people posing in front of an orange wall with their award plaques.

2025 Roy Awards recognize materials research with potential far-reaching impact

December 07, 2025

Photo illustration of two vials of HIV vaccine and a syringe

New test distinguishes vaccine-induced false positives from active HIV infection

December 03, 2025

Person posed in front of a window

After 12 years as MRI director, Clive Randall to step down

November 19, 2025

$3M NSF grant to fund sustainable materials design graduate training program

November 14, 2025

Latest News

Penn State News RSS Feed

A group of people standing in front of the Materials Research Institute entrance cutting a ribbon

Penn State, Kurt J. Lesker Company partner to advance atomic-scale processing

September 10, 2026

A man in a suit speaking into a microphone to the right of a blue projected slide that reads "Penn State Critical Minerals and Materials Workshop"

Critical minerals and materials workshop fosters collaboration, partnerships

September 09, 2026

Photo of Rebecca Napolitano

$1.5M NSF grant to support K-12 learning with real-world educational dataset

September 09, 2026

Two men running tests in a materials lab.

Penn State, Battalion launch research collaboration focused on national security

September 02, 2026

A tiny mirror mounted on a gold background

Tiny mirror controls light in 3D, could make microscopes smaller and faster

August 31, 2026

Young man in a suit and tie and glasses posing outside

Penn State doctoral student earns Corning honor for research into stronger glass

August 17, 2026

A researcher applies the printable RTLR hydrogel to a test participant’s skin.

Printable hydrogel enables wearable health sensors that multitask

August 14, 2026

A researcher figure showing six microscopic images of cell clusters, or islets. The top three images show islets with a relatively smooth texture, while the bottom three images show cells with a rough texture as a result of the team's new research development

Cell ‘invisibility cloaks’ could offer side-effect-free diabetes treatment

August 14, 2026

$12M grant to build animal-inspired sensing for autonomous drones and robots

August 10, 2026

man and woman working in a physics lab

NSF funding supports Two-Dimensional Crystal Consortium's next chapter

August 03, 2026

Close up of a person's chest, wearing a olive green sleeveless shirt, with a sensor attached to it.

Stretchable antenna keeps wearable health sensors in tune with human health

July 24, 2026

Old main with trees in shadows

Penn State awarded $20M to lead an NSF ‘programmable cloud laboratory’

July 23, 2026

A close up shot of a bioelectrode painted to look like a shark on the side of a researcher's curled fist

Paintable electrodes could power creative and colorful wearable sensors

July 13, 2026

A scientific figure illustrating how different atomic arrangements of the same material can lead to substantially changes in corrosion susceptibility, with one simulated material appearing much more corroded than the other two examples

Metals’ atomic arrangement can create ‘corrosion highways’ in nuclear reactors

July 13, 2026

A photo taken in a lab shows a close up of two gloves hands interacting with a small, finger-size circuit board placed on the base of a microscope

Quantum material opens new path for studying unusual electronic behavior

July 09, 2026

a collage of multiple photos, including participants watching panels and speaking with one another at a banquet.

Penn State hosts manufacturing research conference with record attendance

July 06, 2026

A researcher in a white lab coat and safety glasses operates a large mechanical testing machine in a laboratory to test the strength of concrete

New design approach may help slash the price of ultra-durable concrete

June 26, 2026

Young man working in a lab

Thawing ground, future questions: Decoding Arctic climate in a Pennsylvania lab

June 26, 2026

Illustration depicting a microfabricated atomic vapor cell, with atoms trapped within glass cavities on a chip

Glass cells of atoms offer a new path to smarter, cheaper sensors

June 26, 2026

woman in purple shirt looks through telescope

Penn State ranks No. 20 in space science in US News 2026-27 'Global Universities'

June 24, 2026

Woman peering through lab equipment

Air Force award supports research on electronics that can survive extremes

June 22, 2026

Close-up view of sensors and radar on roof of black autonomous driving vehicle (self-driving car or driverless car).

Artificial eyes could bring human-like sight to self-driving cars, robots

June 09, 2026

50 years recognition

Faculty member marks 50 years of service with College of Agricultural Sciences

June 01, 2026

Two scientists in a lab

New industry partnerships focus on enhancing state workforce, innovation

May 28, 2026

Physics REU students pose in front of the APS sign at a conference

Visiting students explore sustainability through physics REU program

May 26, 2026

EEG electrodes in the scalp of a human subject

Novel biogel may solve a hairy problem for wearable brain-monitoring systems

May 22, 2026

A bioelectronic sensor sits laid out on a researcher's fingertip, showing it's small scale.

Stretchy implants could stick to arteries to treat high blood pressure

May 15, 2026

Image of a person smiling in a white shirt and brown jacket

Remembering Herbert A. McKinstry, materials research pioneer

May 13, 2026

The 2025-26 Roe Award winners at the recognition ceremony stand on a stage with their awards against a projected slideshow background.

Penn State Sustainability celebrates 2026 sustainability award winners

May 08, 2026

Person in a jacket and tie standing in front of the Materials Research Institute at University Park.

Materials science and engineering professor Joshua Robinson named MRI director

May 06, 2026

Old Main at University Park campus with a green lawn and an American flag nearby

33 faculty members earn Opportunity Grant Awards

April 29, 2026

Nitin Samarth in front of metal equipment

Physicist Nitin Samarth elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 22, 2026

Four people pose with a colorful image

Winners announced for 18th annual Materials Visualization Competition

April 09, 2026

Scientific figure showcasing a cell-based spheroid shaping together into a dense, strong structure

WATCH: Cell ‘snowball’ may be answer to large-scale tissue engineering

April 06, 2026

Exterior of Old Main

Henry Luce Foundation to fund program focused on supporting women STEM faculty

April 01, 2026

Circular image of thin film sample of iron telluride, which appears as double cross shaped dark area on clear backing.

Superconductivity switched on in material once thought only magnetic

April 01, 2026

A video demonstration showing a hand in the corner controlling a robotic prosthetic hand. The robot grips and moves some household objects, including a brush and a knife.

Q&A: Robots can’t feel; these sensors could change that

March 30, 2026

Stylized image of a semiconductor chip with lights shooting out

April 8 webinar tackles glass manufacturing challenges

March 27, 2026

Nikki Crowley and Santhosh Girirajan speaking at the Village during Brain Awareness Week.

Q&A: Brain health and neuroscience research

March 27, 2026

Two researchers in front of a computer, injecting a substance onto a sensory ship.

'Smart' bandage tracks wound status in real-time

March 26, 2026

Photo of Aida Ebrahimi and Vinay Kammarchedu in a science lab looking through a microscope at sensors built with their new transistor design.

Novel sensing technology 20 times more responsive, even in liquids

March 17, 2026

Image of semiconductors in a plasma environment

Atom-thin material could help solve chip manufacturing problem  

March 10, 2026

Anirban Chowdhury and Dipanjan Sen work in the lab, moving a thermal sensor into an imaging system.

Tiny thermometers offer on-chip temperature monitoring for processors

March 06, 2026

Seedlings leading to a lit light bulb

2026-27 Huck Seed Grant Program opens call for proposals

March 04, 2026

Allison Beese in the foreground, with laboratory instruments in the background

Allison Beese named senior associate director of National Security Institute

February 26, 2026

Two researchers side by side

Two Penn State professors elected to National Academy of Engineering

February 23, 2026

Enrique Gomez stands in a lab testing a sample in a cyrogenic-electron microscope

Stretchy plastics conduct electricity via tiny, whisker-like fibers

February 20, 2026

Clear sheet over the vintage Penn State athletic mark

New plastic material could solve energy storage challenge, researchers report

February 18, 2026

Nutifafa Doumon and Souk Yoon “John” Kim

Additive may strengthen organic solar cells

February 16, 2026

A young man and a young woman demonstrate an experiment to make bouncy balls

Bouncy balls and beyond: Collaborative project connects science with community

January 30, 2026

Dor Tillinger, doctoral candidate of mechanical engineering, and Donbae Lee, doctoral candidate of engineering science and mechanics, dressed in lab coats using lab equipment.

Electric eel biology inspires powerful gel battery

January 28, 2026

Nano soccer balls image

Now accepting submissions for 18th annual Materials Visualization Competition

January 27, 2026

Image of the ZENN theory

From brain scans to alloys: Teaching AI to make sense of complex research data

January 12, 2026

Person in lab coat and glasses operating a lab machine and looking at a monitor

Q&A: Growing novel ultra-pure materials for tomorrow’s electronics

January 09, 2026

Two Penn State professors named fellows of the National Academy of Inventors

January 07, 2026

image of the Millennium Science Complex at sunset

Materials Research Institute seed grants aim to spark interdisciplinary research

December 22, 2025

Dipanjan Pan named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

December 22, 2025

Engineering professor receives DOE Early Career Research Program Award

December 17, 2025

Thandazile Moyo is an assistant professor in Penn State's Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering.

Convening showcases Penn State’s leadership in critical minerals

December 16, 2025

colorful leaphopper sitting on a leaf

Backyard insect inspires large-scale invisibility particles production

December 12, 2025

Diagram showing zentropy's affect on electro-optic ceramics

Transparent ceramic could boost internet speeds and cut energy use

December 12, 2025

Illustration showing oil droplets reaching out arms toward treasure chest with amino acids diffusing toward the droplets

In brief: Like living cells, oil-in-water droplets reach out with 'arms'

December 09, 2025

Six people posing in front of an orange wall with their award plaques.

2025 Roy Awards recognize materials research with potential far-reaching impact

December 07, 2025

Photo illustration of two vials of HIV vaccine and a syringe

New test distinguishes vaccine-induced false positives from active HIV infection

December 03, 2025

Person posed in front of a window

After 12 years as MRI director, Clive Randall to step down

November 19, 2025

$3M NSF grant to fund sustainable materials design graduate training program

November 14, 2025

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