Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in spring 2010 was marked by a series of substantial federal grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, new construction plans and several other high-profile grants.
Through the end of the first quarter of 2010 on March 31, UNL researchers competed for and amassed more than $36.4 million in 63 federal stimulus-funded grants.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology contributed $6.9 million of those funds to go toward construction of a Nanoscience Metrology Facility. Construction is slated to begin this spring adjacent to the Physical Sciences Building on 16th and Vine streets, and is expected to conclude in 2011.
Construction continues on East Campus, with the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Research Resources contributing $8 million to fund an addition to the Ken Morrison Life Sciences Research Center. The addition will house new facilities for the Nebraska Center for Virology.
"(The addition) will provide laboratory space for expansion of current research programs and space for programmatic expansion, including the hire of additional faculty for the Virology Center," Charles Wood, director of the Nebraska Center for Virology, wrote in an e-mail.
Work on the addition is expected to begin near the end of 2010 and run until 2012, Wood said.
Major emphasis has also been placed on bolstering UNL's strengths in agriculture and water this year. On April 20, the Robert B. Daughtery Charitable Foundation granted $50 million to UNL for the establishment of the Water for Food Institute on campus.
"This extraordinarily generous and visionary gift will enable our university to establish an institute focused on helping the world efficiently use its limited freshwater resources, with particular focus on ensuring the food supply for current and future generations," Vicki Miller, research communications coordinator, wrote in an e-mail.
The institute will operate out of the Whittier Building at 22nd and W streets.
Coupling with the upcoming institute, UNL is currently hosting the second annual Water for Food conference. Ending May 5, the conference will bring together more than 300 guests including experts in the fields of water and agricultural sciences.
As the university grows into its role at the forefront of natural resources research, Miller said it will be playing to its natural strengths and readily available resources.
"Nebraska is a natural laboratory for water research," she said. "There's simply no place better suited for this leadership role than Nebraska and its university."
iansacks@dailynebraskan.com
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