The Partnership for Photonic Metamaterials, includes investigators from the Center for Materials Research at Norfolk State University; the Center for Materials Research at Cornell University; and both the Birck Nanotechnology Center and the Network for Computational Nanotechnology at Purdue University.

Its central research theme is mutual enhancement of (1) optical gain and other optical responses in dielectric media and (2) surface plasmons in metallic particles and aggregates.

The PREM's education program seeks to establish a complete academic pipeline for underrepresented minority groups, starting with efforts to attract high-school students into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Then, through specially developed educational materials, class work, research training, mentoring and exchange programs within the partnership, the pipeline will carry the students through to become Ph.D. candidates for careers in materials science in academia, industry, and government.

The goals of the Partnership:
Research. To advance NSU’s CMR to the level of world-leading institutions in the areas of photonics and nanoplasmonics.
Education. To make NSU’s CMR one of top five producers of African-American Ph.D. graduates in Materials Science in the nation.