JFI faculty lead a number of externally funded, interdisciplinary research centers which foster long-term collaborations and combine fundamental research with shared infrastructure, education, and partnerships, accelerating scientific discovery and technological innovation.
CD4DC
The Catalyst Design for Decarbonization Center is a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center (Director Laura Gagliardi). The central research mission of CD4DC is to discover new catalysts for the decarbonization energy transition and to optimize the key catalytic reactions involved.
Center for Living Systems
The NSF Physics Frontier Center for Living Systems (Director Margaret Gardel; Assoc. Director Arvind Murugan) develops the principles of how living systems exploit information in their local environment to diversify their form and function. This research establishes a new field of physics that focuses on how physical systems can store, retrieve, and process information to control complex behavior. This Center (1) develops frameworks of memory and adaptation in living systems across length and time scales (2) develops the physics of memory storage and processing in far-from-equilibrium systems,
M-Star
The NSF MXenes Synthesis, Tunability and Reactivity (M-STAR) Center for Chemical Innovation (Director Dmitri Talapin) aims to demonstrate to the world the exciting possibilities for fundamental and applied chemistry in the burgeoning field of two-dimensional layered metal nitrides and carbides known as MXenes. MXenes are envisioned as a truly general chemical platform to advance the fields of inorganic and organometallic chemistry, catalysis, surface science, electrochemistry, physical chemistry, light-matter interactions, and more.
MOSAIC
The NSF Center for Multimodal Observations for Single Atom Imaging of Chemistry (Director Paul Alivisatos) visualizes chemical reactions in real-time at the single-atom level, empowering scientists to unlock the secrets of reaction mechanisms. This groundbreaking capability is poised to drive advancements in fields ranging from catalysis and energy storage to chemical manufacturing.
QuBBE
The NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Sensing for Biophysics and Bioengineering (Director Greg Engel) develops biocompatible quantum materials, establishes protocols for sensing and imaging within cells, and demonstrates the utility of quantum measurement in biology.