MID-SIZE FACILITIES

The Infrastructure of Materials Research

(Final Report of the NRC Committee on Smaller Facilities)

On behalf of the full committee

Robert Sinclair

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Stanford University

Stanford, California 94305

The National Research Council of the National Academies recently released an unedited prepublication draft of a report concerning “Midsize Facilities”. As analytical laboratories utilizing microscopy and micro-beams represent a significant sub-set of such facilities, an overview of the committee’s findings is of direct interest to this scientific community. This late-breaking poster will review the work carried out by the committee and highlight its recommendations.

Despite the perceived importance of midsize facilities a review of their state and the opportunities for their future development had not been carried out. The charge to the committee included data collecting on the structure and usage of such facilities, identification of successful operation, exploration of the need for long-term support and the effect of the policies of the federal research agencies. One of the most striking findings is that the escalation in capability and associated cost far exceed the ability of research institutions, particularly universities, to obtain and maintain modern equipment for materials research.

The committee’s recommendations firstly identified the need for realizing economies, that midsize facilities need recognition as a group and that collective stewardship is necessary for their support and oversight. Regional networking is recognized as one strong mechanism whereby facilities can achieve economies and provide state-of-the-art capabilities for their users, A long-term infrastructure needs to be established, recognizing the crucial role played by technical and professional staff. Finally periodic review is essential to ensure that resources are being used to best effect.

An open discussion of the committee’s report is encouraged, and several committee members are expected to be present. The report was commissioned by NSF (DMR) and DOE (BES) and the draft can be obtained from:

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bpa/COSF_Final_Report_PREPUB.pdf