On July 20, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced the award of new grants totaling more than $55.5 million to four universities to provide cost-shared support for the construction of new scientific research facilities.
The cost-shared awards include:
- $15 million to the University of Miami (Miami, Fla.) for a Marine Technology and Life Sciences Seawater Research Building, matched by $28.8 million;
- $14.4 million to Auburn University (Auburn, Ala.) for a Center for Advanced Science, Innovation and Commerce, matched by an equal amount;
- $11.1 million to the Rice University (Houston, Texas) for the new Brockman Hall for Physics, matched by $33.4 million; and
- $15 million to the University of North Carolina Wilmington (Wilmington, N.C.) for a new facility for the Marine Biotechnology in North Carolina (MARBIONC) program, matched by an equal amount.
The new research buildings will provide state-of-the-art laboratory facilities supporting academic research across a broad range of topics affecting the missions of the research agencies of the Department of Commerce, including fundamental physics research, nanotechnology, aquaculture and marine ecology.
Funding for the new grants was provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. For additional information on the grants and details of the four projects, see the news release, “NIST Awards $55.5 Million in Grants for New University Research Facilities.”
