Federal Grant Award Summary

Iowa State University received a $879,911 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Materials Research under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049), effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030. This collaborative research award, conducted in partnership with Canadian institutions through the NSF-National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) initiative, delivers a data-driven materials-by-design framework for developing high-performance organic mixed ionic-electronic conducting polymers. The primary deliverables include the development of predictive computational tools that integrate molecular design, advanced characterization, device engineering, and artificial intelligence to establish structure-processing-property relationships, thereby accelerating polymer discovery and reducing reliance on conventional trial-and-error experimentation.

Beyond core research deliverables, the award generates educational and workforce development products, including interdisciplinary training for students in data-enabled materials science and engineering, new curriculum modules focused on data-driven materials design, and public engagement workshops that highlight artificial intelligence's role in future electronics. The research findings and methodologies are intended to advance the design of flexible, low-cost materials applicable to wearable sensors, bioelectronics, organic electrochemical transistors, and energy-efficient computing devices, while strengthening domestic capabilities in advanced materials and digital manufacturing aligned with federal strategic priorities in materials innovation.