MRS Medal

The MRS Medal recognizes an exceptional achievement in materials research in the past ten years. A medal will be awarded for a major advance or cluster of closely related advances in any materials-related field of research. The impact of this research on the progress of the relevant materials field will be a primary consideration in making the award.

MRS acknowledges the generosity of Dr. Gwo-Ching Wang and Dr. Toh-Ming Lu in endowing the MRS Medal

Award Package

Each medal will consist of a $5,000 cash prize, an engraved and mounted medal and a citation certificate. The registration fee will be paid for the medalist to attend the MRS meeting at which the medal talk is presented, and reasonable travel expenses to the MRS meeting will be reimbursed.

Nomination Information

Rules and eligibility, nomination package requirements and more are available here.

Every year, MRS awards the MRS Medal for an exceptional achievement in materials research from the past 10 years, and this year the medal goes to Hongyou Fan from Sandia National Laboratories for pioneering pressure-induced nanomaterial synthesis and characterization for materials exploration and discovery. Here Hongyou shares more about that research.

MRS Medal Recipients

Delia J. Milliron, The University of Texas at Austin (2023)

Delia J. Milliron, The University of Texas at Austin

For the development of optically tunable metal oxide nanomaterials for applications such as energy-saving electrochromic windows

Chad A. Mirkin, Northwestern University (2022)

Chad A. Mirkin, Northwestern University

For the invention and implementation of nanoparticle mega-libraries for materials discovery

Yury Gogotsi, Drexel University (2021)

"For contributions to advancing the understanding of processing, structure, and properties of two-dimensional carbides and nitrides (MXenes) for energy storage applications"

Yi Cui, Stanford University (2020)

"For outstanding contributions to advanced materials design, synthesis and characterization for energy storage, particularly Li battery technologies"

Linda Nazar, University of Waterloo (2020)

"For outstanding contributions to advanced materials design, synthesis and characterization for energy storage, particularly Li battery technologies"

Catherine J. Murphy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2019)

"For outstanding contributions on the study of anisotropic nanoscale materials, transformation and application"

Haimei Zheng, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2019)

"For outstanding contributions on the study of anisotropic nanoscale materials, transformation and application"

John A. Rogers, Northwestern University (2018)

"For pioneering contributions to materials for diverse classes of bio-integrated electronic systems"

Joanna Aizenberg, Harvard University and Younan Xia, Georgia Institute of Technology (2017)

"For developing new synthesis routes inspired by biological principles for the fabrication of advanced complex multifunctional materials and devices"

"For seminal contributions to shape-controlled synthesis of metal nanocrystals with major impact on catalysis, plasmonics and biomedicine"

Robert J. Cava, Princeton University (2016)

"For pioneering contributions in the discovery of new classes of 3D Topological Insulators."

Richard B. Kaner, University of California, Los Angeles (2015)

"For the discovery of efficient methods to synthesize water dispersible conducting polymer nanofibers and their applications in sensors, actuators, molecular memory devices, catalysis, and the novel process of flash welding”

Sharon C. Glotzer and Nicholas Kotov, University of Michigan (2014)

"For foundational work elucidating processes of nanoparticle self-assembly."

Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Northwestern University (2014)

"For the discovery and development of nanostructured thermoelectric materials"

Alexander Balandin, University of California, Riverside (2013)

"For discovery of the extraordinary high intrinsic thermal conductivity of graphene, development of an original optothermal measurement technique for investigation of thermal properties of graphene, and theoretical explanation of the unique features of the phonon transport in graphene”

Jennifer A. Lewis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2012)

"For pioneering contributions in the design of viscoelastic inks composed of colloidal, polymeric, and organometallic building blocks and their directed assembly into planar and 3D functional architectures"

Miquel Salmeron, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2012)

"For his contribution to the molecular level understanding of material surfaces under ambient conditions of gas pressure and temperature made possible by the development and application of Ambient Pressure Photo-Electron Spectroscopy (APPES), which revealed the chemical structure of liquids, catalysts surfaces and nanoparticles during environmental reaction conditions"

Peidong Yang, University of California, Berkeley (2011)

“For outstanding contributions in the creative synthesis and assembly of semiconductor nanowires and their heterostructures, and innovations in nanowire-based photonics, thermoelectrics, solar energy conversion and nanofluidic applications.”

Zhong Lin (Z.L.) Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology (2011)

“For seminal contributions in the discovery, controlled synthesis, and fundamental understanding of ZnO nanowires and nanobelts, and the design and fabrication of novel, nanowire-based nanosensors, piezotronic devices, and nanogenerators.”

Walter A. de Heer, Georgia Institute of Technology (2010)

"For his pioneering contributions to the science and technology of epitaxial graphene."

Gerbrand Ceder, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009)

"For pioneering the high-impact field of first-principles thermodynamics of batteries materials and for the development of high-power density Li battery compounds."

Darrell G. Schlom, Cornell University (2008)

"For his fundamental contributions to the materials science of oxides underlying current and future electronic devices."

James F. Scott, University of Cambridge (2008)

"For his fundamental contributions to the materials science of oxides underlying current and future electronic devices"

Omar Yaghi, University of California, Los Angeles (2007)

"For his pioneering work on the synthesis, structure and theory of metal organic frameworks."

Pulickel Ajayan, Rensselear Polytechnic Institute (2006)

“For important developments in the materials science and applications of carbon nanotubes."

Won Bong Choi, Florida International University (2006)

“For important developments in the materials science and applications of carbon nanotubes."

Mark Thompson, University of Southern California (2006)

“For development of highly efficient heavy metal phosphor complexes”

Reshef Tenne, Weizmann Institute of Science (2005)

"For realizing that nanoclusters of layered compound materials (e.g., MoS₂, WS₂) can be made to fold into hollow cage structures, in analogy to graphitic carbon. These structures, known as 'inorganic fullerenes,' constitute a materials class with exciting new properties."

Jacob Israelachvili, University of California, Santa Barbara (2004)

"For work on adhesion and friction, which has revolutionized the understanding of molecular mechanisms responsible for these technologically vital phenomena."

Toh-Ming Lu, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2004)

"For seminal contributions to understanding mechanisms of thin-film surface and interface morphology evolution and establishing the foundations of diffraction and scattering methods for its quantitative analysis."

Sunil Sinha, University of California, San Diego and Los Alamos National Laboratory (2004)

C. Jeffrey Brinker, Sandia National Laboratories and University of New Mexico (2003)

"For his pioneering application of principles of sol-gel chemistry to the self-assembly of functional nanoscale materials."

Ivan K. Schuller, University of California, San Diego (2003)

"For his innovative studies of exchange bias in magnetic heterostructures and nanostructures."

Charles M. Lieber, Harvard University (2002)

"For controlled synthesis of nanowire and nanotube materials."

Uzi Landman, Georgia Institute of Technology (2002)

"For molecular dynamics simulations elucidating the microscopic behavior of solid and liquid interfacial junctions and atomistic processes of tribology."

C. Mathew Mate, IBM Almaden Research Center (2001)

"For pioneering studies of friction at the atomic and molecular level."

Norman C. Bartelt, Sandia National Laboratories (2001)

"For contributions to the statistical mechanics of materials surfaces."

Dieter M. Gruen, Argonne National Laboratory (2000)

"For the development and characterization of low-pressure synthesis of nanocrystalline diamond films from fullerene precursors."

Samuel I. Stupp, Northwestern University (2000)

"For seminal contributions to the development of supramolecular materials that exhibit unique properties resulting from their hierarchical organization in the condensed state."

M. George Craford, Hewlett Packard (1999)

"For pioneering contributions and leadership in the development of visible-spectrum light-emitting diode materials and devices."

Stephen Forrest, Princeton University (1999)

"For pioneering contributions to the growth and optoelectronic applications of organic semiconductor thin films."

William L. Johnson, California Institute of Technology (1998)

"For the development and fundamental understanding of bulk metallic glass forming alloys"

Shuji Nakamura, Nichia Chemical Industries Ltd. (1997)

"For the development of lattice-mismatched GaN-based heteroepitaxy and its application to the creation of blue and green light-emitting diodes and short wavelength laser diodes."

Jerry D. Tersoff, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center (1996)

"For seminal contributions to the theory of strain relaxation in thin films."

Federico Capasso, AT&T Bell Laboratories (1995)

"For seminal contributions to compositionally graded materials, using bandgap engineering, and their innovative applications in electronics and optoelectronics."

Rudolf M. Tromp, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center (1995)

"For pioneering experiments on the role of atomic structure, surface stress, and surfactants in heteroepitaxial growth."

Max G. Lagally, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1994)

"For innovative development of STM as a quantitative probe of the microscopic mechanisms of crystal growth and ordering at surfaces."

Kenneth S. Suslick, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1994)

"For incisive studies of chemical effects of ultrasound and the use of sonochemistry in synthesis of unusual inorganic materials."

Wolfgang Kraätschmer, Max-Planck Institute Kernphysik (1993)

"For the discovery of a method to produce macroscopic quantities of fullerenes, and for elucidating their properties."

Donald R. Huffman, University of Arizona (1993)

"For the discovery of a method to produce macroscopic quantities of fullerenes and for elucidating their properties."

Stephen J. Pennycook, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (1993)

"For the development and application of incoherent (Z-contrast) imaging in the scanning transmission electron microscope for direct determination of the atomic scale structure and chemistry of materials and interfaces."

L. Eric Cross, The Pennsylvania State University (1992)

"In recognition of his leadership and vision in the atomic scale engineering of relaxor ferroelectric materials as the prototype of self-assembling nanocomposites."

Bernard S. Meyerson, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center (1991)

"In recognition of his dynamic research leading to the fabrication of high speed heterojunction bipolar transistors."

Shigeyuki Somiya, Nishi Tokyo University (1991)

"In recognition of his innovation and energy in pioneering the field of hydrothermal synthesis of ceramic materials."

Arthur J. Freeman, Northwestern University (1990)

"In recognition of his pioneering achievements in the field of monolayer and low dimensional magnetism."

Duward F. Shriver, Northwestern University (1990)

"In recognition of his seminal work in the synthesis, characterization, understanding and application of polymer based solid electrolyte materials."