In September NSF awarded $81 million over five years to 16 institutions. The National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) is a continuation of NSF’s efforts in support of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
The 16 winning institutions are located in 15 states. Half of them were part of NSF’s previous nanoscience network and half are newcomers; many have teamed up with partner institutions. (A list of NNCI sites is available at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=136211.)
The awards, which range from $500 000 to $1.6 million annually, are to facilitate serving external users. The money will go for hiring staff, upgrading equipment, subsidizing user fees, performing educational outreach, developing sample protocols, and the like. By the end of the year, NSF will select one of the 16 sites to act as NNCI coordinator “to enhance impact as a national infrastructure network of user facility sites,” says NSF senior engineering adviser Lawrence Goldberg.
The Cornell NanoScale...
