WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 -- The National Science Board has approved five new National Science Foundation Science and Technology Centers. Each center will enter into a five-year cooperative agreement with the NSF, which will contribute a total of nearly $94 million to studies in a range of scientific and technological areas. Program guidelines allow for each center to receive as much as $20 million, but final awards are subject to negotiation between the NSF and the lead institutions of the partnerships. The total value of the NSF awards can surpass the actual funds committed, as partners may bring in-kind contributions to the centers.
The NSF authorized the establishment of the following centers: one to study water sustainability, to be led by the University of Arizona; another to study nanobiotechnology, to be headed by Cornell University; a third to study adaptive optics, under the leadership of the University of California at Santa Cruz; a behavioral neuroscience center, to be directed by Emory University in Atlanta; and a center for environmentally-responsible solvents and processes, to be piloted by the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.