The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded $50 million to establish two national Materials Innovation Platforms centered on autonomous experiments and artificial intelligence.
Texas A&M University and the University of Wisconsin–Madison will each receive $25 million over six years to build facilities open to academic and industry researchers from around the country.
Texas A&M's ARM-MIP will focus on advanced alloys and combine automated synthesis, characterization and AI-guided experimentation. Potential applications include transportation, energy and other systems that require lighter or stronger metals.
Wisconsin's MATRIX-MIP will develop materials designed for extreme heat and radiation. The platform will integrate computation, robotic experiments and specialized testing for environments such as advanced energy systems.
NSF says the facilities will host dozens of visiting scientists annually. The agency expects 10% to 20% of visitors to come from institutions with comparatively low research spending.
National user access is a central condition of the platform model: equipment and staff are not reserved only for the host universities. Actual access will depend on proposal review, capacity, safety and scheduling.
Autonomous experiments can test materials and update models faster than a purely manual sequence, but AI guidance does not eliminate calibration, validation or expert interpretation.
NSF also awarded $4.6 million over four years to help Pennsylvania State University's 2D Crystal Consortium transition after earlier platform support. That amount is separate from the two new $25 million awards.
The six-year awards establish capacity rather than guarantee a specific commercial material or discovery. Research output, outside-user participation and industrial impact will depend on implementation after the facilities come online.