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The Dish in the Stanford foothills at dusk

Mission Statement

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Our mission is to address grand challenges in the science of energy-related materials. We create knowledge, develop leaders, and seek solutions.

Create Knowledge

Achieve transformational breakthroughs in materials research aimed at gaining a deeper understanding of nature.

Develop a fundamental understanding of phenomena unique to the nanoscale.

Elucidate electron behavior that can give rise to magnetism, superconductivity, and other emergent properties.

Remove simulation bottlenecks and develop new instruments in order to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery.

Provide unique capabilities in ultra-fast and high-resolution X-ray imaging, scattering, and spectroscopy based on Stanford and SLAC facilities and infrastructure.

Develop Leaders

Prepare students to become leaders in academia, national laboratories, and energy-related businesses.

Guide students in research that advances the frontiers of science, contributes to energy security, and stimulates economic growth.

Provide a community of DOE and Stanford mentors who have developed cutting-edge experimental skills, built unique instruments, and gained world-class expertise in theory, synthesis, and characterization.

Seek Solutions

Achieve transformational breakthroughs in materials research that promote DOE mission goals of energy independence and environmental sustainability.

Create materials with targeted properties and functions by designing and synthesizing materials at the nanoscale.

Master the control of energy-relevant complex materials that exhibit collective, cooperative, or adaptive behavior.

Develop new materials and prototype devices that overcome roadblocks to the development of energy technologies.

SIMES Vision

SIMES will become a renowned center of excellence in the science of energy-related materials.

SIMES researchers will answer fundamental questions about the behavior of solid matter and open new fields of science.

SIMES scientists and engineers will develop state-of-the-art systems for designing, synthesizing, characterizing, and testing new materials.

SIMES scientists will discover materials that improve society’s access to clean renewable energy and remove barriers to economic growth.

The SIMES work environment will challenge us, inform us, and inspire us to do outstanding science.

SIMES will earn a reputation as a fertile environment for the birth and development of new ideas.

The interdisciplinary SIMES environment will provide a broader and deeper education for students than graduate study in a single department can provide.

Our students will become leaders in academia, national laboratories, and energy-related industries.