NSF MRI Award Received

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a Major Research Instrumentation grant to NDSU Distinguished Professor Kalpana Katti, Civil Engineering, and Scott Payne and Jayma Moore of the NDSU Electron Microscopy Center.  The money will fund a multipurpose analytical high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) system for research, teaching, and research training in NDSU’s central multi-user microscopy facility.  The microscope can be operated remotely, making it especially suitable for use in laboratories and classrooms across campus and around the region, as well as for student outreach.

In their funding recommendation, the NSF review panel cited the well-developed management plan for access to high-resolution TEM for projects that are already under investigation at NDSU, as well as others that have not been initiated yet because suitable instrumentation was unavailable.  Reviewers praised Katti’s own work on nanocomposites including biomaterials, structural materials, biomimetic systems, and biological systems; project descriptions by ten other researchers representing seven departments bolstered justification for the new microscope and sample preparation equipment.

The Major Research Instrumentation program permits each institution to submit only two acquisition proposals annually.  Payne, Microscopy Center Assistant Director, commented, “There aren’t many granting opportunities for instrumentation in the million-dollar range, and they’re very competitive.  We feel fortunate to have been successful in getting the award, and that NDSU supports this great tool.  This is a big step toward helping the Electron Microscopy Center move to the next level in meeting President Chapman’s challenge for all programs to go Division I.”   Laboratory Manager Moore added, “State-of-the-art transmission electron microscopy is vital to keep NDSU an international scientific resource in contemporary fields like nanotechnology and polymeric materials, as well as the traditional agriculture and engineering.”

We hope that the new TEM will be installed and ready for use by summer 2009.

updated 21 July 2008 11:12 AM

E-Mail:ndsu.em.center@ndsu.edu
Department of Plant Pathology
Northern Crop Science Laboratory
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North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105
Phone: 701-231-8435