The Curse of Knowing: Why Scientists Struggle to Be Understood (and How to Fix It)
Sep 25, 2025
This webinar addresses how scientists can best convey their ideas to the public and their peers by communicating simply, concretely, and credibly. It highlights how communication suffers when the communicator fails to consider the knowledge mismatch with their audience and the audience's needs.
Takeaways:
- You will engage your audience more by using stories and leveraging emotions than you will by blandly discussing even the most impressive research.
- Think more about how to share your research journey with your audience.
This session will only be offered live – don’t miss the chance to participate and ask your questions in real time.
Sponsored by American Elements
Large Language Models and Foundation Models for Materials Science - MRS Meetings Tutorial Preview
Oct 2, 2025
Tutorial MT02—originally presented at the 2025 MRS Spring Meeting—explored how open-source foundation models are transforming materials science—reshaping approaches to molecule design, property prediction, and materials discovery. This preview webinar will highlight key takeaways from the tutorial and give attendees a sample of the full content. Registrants will also receive access to the complete recorded tutorial after the session.The webinar will introduce participants to three powerful approaches for molecular representation—SMILES, SELFIES, and molecular graph-based models—and demonstrate their applications in research. Instructors Jason Hattrick-Simpers (University of Toronto), Indra Priyadarsini (IBM Research–Tokyo) and Seiji Takeda (IBM Research–Tokyo) will walk through the workflow of fine-tuning pretrained models with custom datasets, using visualization tools, and carrying out tasks such as property prediction and molecule generation.
Whether you’re new to this field or seeking to expand your expertise, this preview webinar will provide a concise overview of the full tutorial, covering the entire workflow from data preprocessing and model customization to evaluating results and interpreting insights.
MRS/Optica Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship Information Session
Oct 2, 2025
MRS and Optica (formerly OSA) co-sponsor an exciting opportunity for scientists to spend a year on Capitol Hill as a Special Legislative Assistant in the U.S. Congress. Fellows learn about the legislative and budgeting process, gain experience in science policy, and contribute scientific expertise to the policymaking process.
Join us for this informational webinar to learn about the MRS/Optica Congressional Science and Engineering Fellowship, get tips on applying, and hear from current and former Fellows about their experiences as scientists in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Materials for Sustainability—Critical Materials and Green Chemistry - MRS Meetings Tutorial Preview
Oct 8, 2025
Tutorial EN00—originally presented at the 2025 MRS Spring Meeting—explored how materials science can drive sustainable energy solutions through the lens of critical materials and green chemistry. This preview webinar will highlight key insights from the tutorial and give attendees a sample of the full content. Participants will also receive access to the complete recorded tutorial following the webinar. This tutorial is designed for students, early-career scientists, and professionals seeking to understand the interconnections between critical materials, green chemistry, and sustainability in energy technologies. It builds on more than a decade of educational initiatives from the International School for Materials for Energy and Sustainability (ISMES), which focuses on the essential role materials play in enabling sustainable technologies and improving life cycles. The session will examine how material sourcing, synthesis, life cycle, and recyclability are foundational to nearly all areas of energy innovation.
Join David Ginley (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), Roderick Eggert (Colorado School of Mines), and Rachel Woods-Robinson (Clean Energy Institute, University of Washington) as they discuss crosscutting themes shaping the future of sustainable energy systems.
Whether you are new to the topic or looking to deepen your expertise, this preview webinar will provide a valuable overview of the opportunities and challenges at the intersection of materials science, sustainability, and energy.
Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem (SECURE) NSF Program – Information Session
Oct 15, 2025
Details for this event will be announced shortly.
Ripple Effect Leadership
Oct 16, 2025
In a world where disconnection, mistrust, and stagnation are widespread, the biggest problem isn’t a lack of effort—it’s a lack of awareness of how much impact each person can have. Too often, individuals underestimate the ripple effects of their choices, focusing only on immediate outcomes. But what if the way you show up in a single moment could change everything—for your team, your organization, or even the next generation?
This keynote flips that perspective. It’s a call to Make Moments Matter—offering a powerful framework for amplifying the impact of everyday actions. Through surprising stories, actionable insights, and practical tools, audiences learn how to unlock the potential of their seemingly small decisions to create ripples of trust, collaboration, and growth across their organizations, teams, and communities.
Takeaways:
- Recognize Your Hidden Power to Create Change
- Become a Catalyst for Positive Momentum
- Take Agency Over Your Impact
This session will only be offered live – don’t miss the chance to participate and ask your questions in real time.
Green Cards for Scientific Researchers—How to Win Your EB-1/NIW Case!
Oct 21, 2025
Interested in obtaining a permanent Green Card to work in the United States? Generally, a foreign national seeking permanent residence through employment must be sponsored by his or her employer via the PERM Labor Certification process.
There are numerous routes to employment-based permanent residence that do not require PERM Labor Certification, thereby allowing foreign nationals to avoid this complicated process while also reducing the wait time to obtain employment-based permanent residence.
This presentation will cover and compare the criteria for the EB-1A classification for foreign nationals of extraordinary ability in the sciences, the EB-1B classification for foreign nationals who are outstanding researchers or professors, and the National Interest Waiver (“NIW”) classification. The presentation will also discuss the different types of nonimmigrant visa work classifications.
Sponsored by Getson & Schatz
Save the Audience, Save Yourself: The Science of Better Conference Presentations
Oct 23, 2025
We have all listened to terrible conference talks that make us want to scream. This webinar provides a recipe for how to give a talk that will engage, not enrage your audience. In addition to applying the principles of good science communication discussed in the September webinar on science communication, this webinar addresses specific issues relevant to creating a slide deck designed to best support how you tell your research story.
Takeaways:
- You are the presentation, not the slide deck. If everything you are going to say is on your slides, there is no need for you to be there.
- If you want to be a polished, convincing presenter you can't wing it. You need to thoughtfully address how you build your slide deck and deliver it to your audience.
This session will only be offered live – don’t miss the chance to participate and ask your questions in real time.
Sponsored by American Elements
Advanced Quantum Magnets and Related Technologies Toward Energy-Efficient Computing - MRS Meetings Tutorial Preview
Oct 29, 2025
Tutorial QT02—originally presented at the 2025 MRS Spring Meeting—explored groundbreaking research in advanced quantum magnets and their potential role in energy-efficient computing. This preview webinar will highlight key insights from the tutorial and give attendees a sampling of the full content. All participants will receive access to the complete recorded tutorial following the webinar. This tutorial examines advanced compounds, physics, chemistry, and the integration of magnetic materials to enable low-power, energy-efficient computing. Beyond sharing the latest research and innovations, it aims to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers to pursue careers in quantum science and technology. This will cover experimental and AI-driven strategies to address the physical limitations of modern data information platforms and the rapidly increasing energy demands of today’s computing systems.
Join Rafael Fernandes (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Trevor Rhone (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Liuyan Zhao (University of Michigan–Ann Arbor), and Riccardo Comin (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) as they explore: The use of AI and machine learning for quantum material discovery, Beyond Charge—ARPES as a Probe of Spin and Orbital Physics, Coupling to Quantum Magnets with Nonlinear Optics, Altermagnetism and unconventional magnetic states.
Whether you are just starting your journey in quantum science or looking to deepen your expertise, this preview webinar offers a valuable introduction to the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of energy-efficient computing.
