Vision
The Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM) was established in 1994 to nucleate a
modern materials research program at Princeton University. Princeton has a large group of
scientists and engineers active in modern materials research, but lacks a Materials Science
department. In the past decade and a half, PCCM has grown from an initial 2-MRG program to
the present program with 4 IRGs. PCCM, with over 40 faculty members, is now one of the
largest interdisciplinary research units at Princeton as measured by annual publications and
education outreach activities. An informal history of PCCM at Princeton (“Impact of MRSEC on
the research culture at Princeton”) is available from the Director. As in MRSECs around the
nation, PCCM’s driving goal is to undertake cutting-edge research in frontier areas matched to
the talents of the Princeton faculty and to the resources available on campus. The research will
hopefully contribute meaningfully and substantially to the solution of some of the pressing
problems confronting the nation and the world.