USA: National Science Foundation Awards USD 1.97 Million to Massachusetts Research Institutions

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Representative and Senator-Elect Edward Markey, and U.S. Representatives James McGovern and William Keating announced the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $1.97 million to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Tufts University for research projects in science and engineering.

“These awards from the National Science Foundation are a testament to the great research work underway here in MA,” said Senator Warren. “Massachusetts is a national leader in science and technology, and this critical federal funding will help encourage discovery and innovation.”

“Massachusetts’ tradition of innovation starts with our commitment to the power of research and science,”said Rep. and Senator-Elect Markey. “These grants will help keep the Bay State as the leader in the search for the latest inventions, cures, and discoveries.”

“WPI is on the cutting edge of some of the most important research going on in the country today,” said Rep. McGovern. “I’m pleased that the NSF is recognizing some of their more innovative clean energy work with this federal funding.”

“Southeastern Massachusetts has solidified its place as a national hub of new technology and research,” said Rep. Keating, who represents the South Coast, South Shore, Cape, and Islands. “These grants are yet another demonstration of the cutting-edge work done by the Commonwealth’s premier institutions, which are raising the bar and setting the standard for research institutions across the country.”

 Worcester Polytechnic Institute will receive $303,201 for its project entitled “Hydrokinetic Energy Harvesting Using Tethered Undersea Kites.”

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will receive two separate grants totaling more than $1.36 million. It will receive $606,678 for its project entitled “Collaborative Research: Dissolved Phosphorus Processing by Trichodesmium Consortia: Quantitative Partitioning, Role of Microbial Coordination, and Impact on Nitrogen Fixation.” For the project entitled “Alongshore Advective Acceleration in the Surf Zone,” it will receive $762,866.

Tufts University will receive $300,000 for its project entitled “Collaborative Research: Identification of Immunomodulatory Microbiota Metabolites.”

The NSF provides roughly 20 percent of federal support to academic institutions for research and education in science and engineering through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.

[mappress]

Press release, July 15, 2013; Image: whoi