Operating Committees

MRS operating committees form the operational heart of the society and are made up of energized volunteers who wish to help drive forward specific aspects of the society. The links below detail descriptions of the responsibilities and activities of each committee.

If you're interested in volunteering on a committee, please complete the profile form to express your interests. MRS is member-led and member-driven, and whether you have been involved for only a few days or for many years, we are always eager to welcome energetic and enthusiastic new volunteers of any career level with varying skills and interests.

Volunteer Profile

Volunteer Manual

(must be a logged in member of a committee listed below to access)

Awards Committee

The MRS Awards Committee oversees all Society awards according to policies approved by the Board of Directors, arranges for the preparation and presentation of awards, recommends new awards and changes to existing awards, and oversees publicity for all awards. Subcommittees: Graduate Student Award, Innovation in Materials Characterization Award, The Kavli Foundation Early Career Lectureship in Materials Science, Materials Theory Award, Mid-Career Researcher Award, MRS Fellow, MRS Impact, MRS Medal, Outstanding Early-Career Investigator, MRS Nelson "Buck" Robinson Science And Technology Award For Renewable Energy, Postdoctoral Awards, Turnbull Lectureship, and Von Hippel Award.

Career Advancement Committee

The Career Advancement Committee seeks to provide programs and services that advance careers of MRS members. The committee assesses programs and practices that can best serve the evolving needs of MRS members. Critical focal points of the committee are diversity, equity, and inclusion issues; early career professional programs, and student engagement. The committee also helps to coordinate new Special Interest Groups within MRS.

Government Affairs Committee

The Government Affairs Committee contributes to the development of governmental science and technology policy in materials-related areas by responding to and initiating opportunities to interact nationally and internationally with government officials and public and private organizations on matters of science and technology policy. Subcommittees and Working Groups include Congressional Visit Days Group, MRS/Optica Congressional Fellows Group and Policy Advisors Group.

Meetings Committee

The Meetings Committee is responsible for planning, executing, and evaluating program content of all Meetings in which the Society participates. This includes technical and broader impact content, tutorials, workshops, experiments in new meetings, as well as co-sponsored, co-located or other partnered programming. Meetings Committee subcommittees are Meetings Assessment, New Meetings, Broader Impact Program Development and Program Development.

Publications Committee

The Publications Committee shall be responsible for the quality of MRS publications and shall provide direction to and review of the society’s print and electronic publications, including journals, books, news, educational and all other publications. It shall oversee general editorial policy, engage in strategic planning and development of the Society’s current and future publications, recommend and work with partner entities where appropriate and initiate publication focused task forces and subcommittees as deemed necessary by the committee.

Society Agility Council

The Society Agility Council works to coordinate and maintain innovative topical communities within MRS and works with MRS volunteers and staff to establish MRS strategic priorities related to those topical communities. The Society Agility Council ensures that emerging and high impact materials research topics are incubated within MRS and encouraged to grow and flourish. It provides strategic advice to MRS Publications and Meetings Committees to help the Society build robust meetings and journals, including through collaborations and partnerships.