Materials of the Universe

Materials of the Universe (MotU) unites cosmology, astrophysics, astronomy, planetary science and exploration, mineralogy and petrology, with materials science and engineering, chemistry, physics, and biology to address grand questions of the complex chemistries and evolution of planets.

Stars produce the elements that form all materials. Planets, moons, and every object in the universe form through physical and chemical processing of this suite of elements, which makes the knowledge of materials essential to understand the universe. The diversity of planetary bodies in our solar system and the ubiquity of exoplanets now liberate us from narrow thinking focused only on Earth materials. We need to understand their formation, stability, catalytic activity, and rheology over a range of temperature, pressure, and compositions not yet imagined. Creating new materials, often far from equilibrium, with compositions unknown on Earth but possible elsewhere, requires fundamental understanding of structure, bonding, and function. Such new materials, in turn, may aid space exploration by providing better sensors and detectors, as well as stronger, lighter, and more robust materials for aerospace applications. Materials research under extreme conditions will enable us to design new systems for space exploration, travel, and settlement.

MotU, as a unifying discipline, will attract and inspire scientists across all STEM fields as it synergistically applies materials research methods, and explores alien and extreme conditions and environments with the expectation of discovering new, useful materials and understanding the formation and evolution of planets.

MotU is a collaborate research and education initiative of the School of Molecular Sciences, the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy and the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University.