Washington – Senator Evan Bayh today announced that two major Indiana universities have been awarded $38.5 million in economic recovery funds to research and develop new energy technologies.  Funding for the five-year program is available through the U.S. Department of Energy and will create two Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) at the University of Notre Dame and Purdue University.

“These funds will not only preserve well-paying research jobs at two of our state’s flagship universities, but will support groundbreaking energy studies that have the potential to reduce our country’s dependence on foreign sources of oil,” said Senator Bayh.

The University of Notre Dame will receive $18.5 million to lay the scientific foundation for advanced nuclear energy systems.  Purdue University will receive $20 million to design improved processes for the conversion of biomass to energy, fuels or chemicals.  Both projects are aimed at accelerating scientific breakthroughs needed to build a new 21st century energy economy.

The funding is part of a $377 million federal investment in 46 EFRCs at universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and private firms across the country.

For more information on EFRCs, visit http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/EFRC.html.

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