Midsize Facilities The Infrastructure for Materials Research (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 112-124
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From page 112... ...
It is widely perceived that midsize facilities for materials research are not optimally developed or fully utilized. The 1999 National Research Council report Condensed Matter and Materials Physics: Basic Research for Tomorrow's Technology,1 for example, found that a great burden had been placed on small research centers in universities and government laboratories and that it was appropriate to strengthen this part of the nation's research infrastructure.
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From page 113... ...
The capabilities offered by midsize facilities are generally more wide ranging and much more expensive than are those encountered in a single investigator's laboratory; the sharing of resources has therefore become a necessity. Yet along with the rapidly increasing capabilities of instruments such as electron-beam writers and electron microscopes has come an escalation of the cost of acquisition and maintenance, to the point that smaller facilities typical of individual institutions can no longer afford their purchase and upkeep.
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From page 114... ...
There are significant opportunities for accelerating scientific advances in materials and nanotechnology research by invigorating such facilities and allocating their resources to best effect.3 Accordingly, the committee reemphasizes the importance of midsize facilities. The growth of interdisciplinary research, the emphasis on research focused on developing new devices and structures, and the impetus toward nanoscience and engineering are also fueling a growing demand for facilities with more sophisti cated instrumentation, such as high-resolution secondary ion mass spectrometers and atomic resolution transmission electron microscopes (TEMs)
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From page 115... ...
Midsize facilities often offer access to these advanced R&D environments to commercial collaborators; the partnerships can invigorate local industry and even spawn new ventures. In the face of increasing globalization, midsize facilities associated with such regions of vigorous technological research and development can enable improved competitiveness.
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From page 116... ...
institutions is decreasing in the overall international context.5 The time is right to optimize existing resources in order to exploit latent opportunities in the current facilities system and to be quite systematic and judicious in the development of new facilities. Midsize facilities in the United States that provide essential instrumentation support to materials research are estimated by the committee to number about 500 separate facilities; their sizes and levels of involvement vary.
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From page 117... ...
Because of the economic benefits of pooled resources and the escalating costs of instrumentation, midsize facilities can deliver unique capabilities to materials researchers that the researchers cannot individually or independently afford to own, maintain, or operate. Finally, the ubiquity of midsize facilities is one of their greatest strengths: as research needs are identified and as researchers coordinate their activities, it is possible to initiate such a facility, although doing so is becoming more difficult.
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From page 118... ...
Shared experimental facilities in the form of midsize multiuser facilities are a key component in maintaining the nation at the leading edge of materials research, education, and training. Midsize facilities are everywhere in the materials research landscape, and they offer unique capabilities and benefits, especially when compared with current small-scale and large-scale facilities.
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From page 119... ...
Midsize facilities in materials research differ from the large national facilities because of the lack of a programmatic home for any and for all of them.
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From page 120... ...
Since the nation cannot afford to place midsize materials research facilities and instruments at every possible location and since many insti tutions have considerably less than a full-time need for them, the development of a system of regional user facilities is an effective way to fully address the diverse needs of midsize facilities. It is also highly desirable that these facilities be actively engaged in networking with other facilities that have similar capabilities or complementary instrumenta tion.
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From page 121... ...
For instance, regional facilities located in areas of high industrial concentration and activity would be expected to have a larger role in impacting the regional development of technology. Improving Effectiveness Recommendation 3: LONG-TERM INFRASTRUCTURE Host institutions and supporting agencies should give high priority to maintain ing the long-term viability of midsize facilities, including long-term infrastructure such as resident staff, normal operating costs including maintenance contracts, user training and support, education and outreach, and in-house development of instrumentation and techniques.
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From page 122... ...
The committee recommends that agencies supporting materials research explicitly recognize the needs of midsize facilities programmati cally, thereby allowing midsize facilities to be judged fairly against one another on common grounds in competitive peer review. Stewardship mechanisms should reflect the specific needs of midsize facilities; for example, funding should be long term, and oversight should also be longer term and should be better matched to the activities of facilities.
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From page 123... ...
* Midsize facilities have played a pivotal and invigorating role in materials research.
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From page 124... ...
It is now time to acknowledge the need for the next phase of transition, from a system of loosely connected independent facilities to a net worked effort of coordinated facilities. By leveraging such opportunities, the materials research enterprise will continue to offer a transformative and effective path to the future.
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