$7m in federal stimulus funds to support lab renovations

The campus has been awarded just over $7 million in federal stimulus money from the National Institutes of Health for renovations to create shared lab and instrument space and build two new laboratories in the Lederle Graduate Research Center (LGRC).

The funds will be combined with campus monies to undertake an $11.7 million renovation of three floors in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chemistry departments.

Overall, the Amherst campus has won more than $33 million in competitive stimulus grants as of mid-September. This includes a total $7.1 million in grants from the National Science Foundation to about 20 separate researchers, $16 million from the Department of Energy to establish an Energy Frontier Research Center to develop highly efficient non-silicon polymer materials for harvesting solar energy, and $1.9 million to chemical engineer George Huber to further develop green biofuels production processes.

Chancellor Robert C. Holub said the campus community acted quickly to develop and submit stimulus funding proposals and the effort has paid off handsomely. “We moved aggressively and the result has been outstanding,” he said. “In the face of difficult economic conditions, our faculty and the excellence of their work have stood out and brought resources to campus.”

Some NSF projects were funded as early as June 1. As a result, Holub noted, “These awards are already creating new jobs and opportunities in the Commonwealth, supporting graduate student and postdoctoral hiring, and a variety of special projects. Stimulus funds will strengthen the university’s ability to contribute to the economic well-being of the state and its people.”

Specifically, the LGRC renovation, according to James Kurose, executive associate dean of the College of Natural Sciences, will transform about 15,000 square feet of cramped cubicles and outdated laboratories dating from the 1960s into modern, open space that will make it easier for scientists to collaborate on research, meet and exchange ideas. “The scientific goal is to enhance and expand interaction between the biological and physical sciences ? a high priority for our science departments,” he said.

Michael Malone, vice chancellor for Research and Engagement, said, “This renovation is a great example of our strategy to enable interdisciplinary research. These infrastructure projects have a very large and sustained impact because modern facilities will enable much more effective research and increase our capacity for extramural funding.”

The faculty group involved in planning the LRGC renovation was led by Jennifer Normanly of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB), who noted that by knocking down old walls, the campus will encourage an already fruitful collaboration among research groups on campus. “This proposal grew directly out of a really terrific training program known as the Chemistry Biology Interface that we’ve had in place for 15 years,” Normanly said. The successful proposal was the work of many hands, she added, including Lila Gierasch of BMB, Craig Martin of Chemistry, associate dean Stephen Burns of the College of Natural Sciences, Ludmila Pavlova of Facilities and Campus Planning, and Lee Osterweil and Paul Lahti, former dean and associate dean of the former College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Normanly said, “We’ve had regular chalk talks, seminars and presentations designed to be as cross-disciplinary as possible but it was limited by the old space. Nevertheless, the group persisted so biologists could learn to speak the language of chemistry and vice versa. We feel this renovation is a recognition by NIH and the UMass Amherst campus of our past success and future promise. The new space will formalize and enhance our interactions even more. This project represents long-term, dedicated faculty collaboration to attract international attention to our research.”

Specifically, the 3rd, 7th and 8th floors of the LGRC lab wing will be entirely rebuilt as modern, open laboratory space, each floor housing up to three faculty, including new junior faculty. The basement of the LGRC will also be renovated to house a new nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy instrument, giving campus researchers and their partners access to state-of-the-art equipment. To reduce down time, space in the adjacent Goessmann Laboratory will be renovated first so researchers can be relocated there temporarily during the research tower work.

September 25, 2009.

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