Princeton Materials Institute

Researchers, dressed in white suits, work in "clean room" lab under yellow light.

The Princeton Materials Institute (PMI) is a multidisciplinary research center driving advances in materials science, photonics, and quantum science. A particular strength is research that combines expertise in “hard” materials such as conventional semiconductors and ceramics with knowledge of “soft” materials such as plastics, biological molecules, and fluids. Integrating these conventionally distinct areas yields breakthroughs in fields from telecommunications to energy to biotechnology. The institute brings together physicists, chemists, biologists, and engineers, as well as industry partners, to bring fundamental advances to market.

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Program Information

  • Princeton Center for Complex Materials

  • Research

  • Undergraduate Program

  • Graduate Program

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

News

  • Four graduate students gather around professor Jeff Thompson in the lab, with a quantum computer behind them and figures displayed on the screen.

    A new route to a quantum internet

  • Flat synthetic diamond illuminated by green laser light

    Four engineering professors receive Moore Foundation experimental physics awards

  • Iron's electron orbits are thicker and dimmer than cobalt's, allowing identification of each element

    Like facial recognition for atoms, image distinguishes elements by electron orbitals

  • Foam board with a pinned grasshopper specimen, with wings extended, and four rows with different colors and shapes of synthetic wings under investigation for flying robots.

    Innovation funds support research in robotics, machine learning, climate resilience and more

  • Robert Vanderbei and Richard Register

    Vanderbei and Register recognized for outstanding service and mentorship

  • Glaucio Paulino

    Society recognizes Paulino with Eringen Medal

Events

  • September 27

    12:00 pm

    Heterogeneous Catalysis by Mineral Surface in Prebiotic Chemistry and the Transition from Geochemistry to Biochemistry

  • October 02

    5:00 pm

    The Promise and Perils of Non-Disclosure Agreements

  • October 03

    3:00 pm

    SMatCH – Building Cytoskeletal Circuits via Branched Microtubule Networks

  • October 03

    3:00 pm

    SMatCH – Hyperuniformity of Maximally Random Jammed Packings of Hyperspheres Across Spatial Dimensions

  • October 12

    3:00 pm

    Bacterial Chemotaxis

  • October 31

    3:00 pm

    O-JAWS (Oscillating Jet Assisted Wet Spinning): A Structured Microfiber Production Methodology

Related Research

  • Bioengineering and Health

  • Energy and Environment

  • Quantum Engineering

Faculty

  • Sigrid Adriaenssens

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Craig Arnold

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Ravindra Bhatt

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Elie Bou-Zeid

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Ian Bourg

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Clifford Brangwynne

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Stephen Chou

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Sujit Datta

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Nathalie de Leon

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Pablo Debenedetti

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Adji Bousso Dieng

    Computer Science

  • Jason Fleischer

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Branko Glišić

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Claire Gmachl

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Mikko Haataja

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Andrew Houck

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Marcus Hultmark

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Peter Jaffé

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Bruce E. Koel

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Andrej Kosmrlj

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Chung Law

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Kai Li

    Computer Science

  • Michael Littman

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Lynn Loo

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Marcella Lusardi

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Stephen Lyon

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Jyotirmoy Mandal

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Julia Mikhailova

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Athanassios Panagiotopoulos

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Glaucio Paulino

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Catherine Peters

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Rodney Priestley

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Paul Prucnal

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Barry Rand

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Richard A. Register

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Alejandro Rodriguez

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Michele L. Sarazen

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Kaushik Sengupta

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Mansour Shayegan

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Aditya Sood

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Howard Stone

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • James Sturm

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Sankaran Sundaresan

    Chemical and Biological Engineering

  • Jeffrey Thompson

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Hakan Tureci

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Naveen Verma

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Claire White

    Civil and Environmental Engineering

  • Gerard Wysocki

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Saien Xie

    Electrical and Computer Engineering

  • Nan Yao