Professor Heeger and his colleagues at the University of California, Santa Barbara have done pioneering research in the area of semiconducting and metallic polymers. This class of novel materials has the electrical and optical properties of semiconductors and metals in combination with the processing advantages and mechanical properties of polymers. His current research interests lie in the area of transport in semiconducting polymers and light emission from semiconducting polymers (both photoluminescence and electroluminescence). His research group focuses on issues related to the fundamental electronic structure of this novel class of materials and carries out studies of light emitting diodes (LEDs), light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs), and lasers, all fabricated from semiconducting (conjugated) polymers. Experimental facilities provide the capability for a broad range of spectroscopic studies (including ultrafast, fs, time resolved spectroscopy), quantitative measurement of photoluminescence and electroluminescence quantum efficiencies, optical gain/loss of conjugated polymer/oligomer laser materials, and photoconductivity (steady state and time resolved with sub-ns time resolution).