Huge NSF Magnet Grant Will Test FSU's Mettle

Florida State's victory over MIT in gaining a new lab makes it clear that NSF is inclined to reward fresh vision and determination The National Science Foundation wants universities to know that it takes more than technical excellence and a good reputation to win a large grant. What's required are hard work, a long-range vision, a commitment to training the next generation of scientists, and a knack for obtaining outside funding to augment whatever the federal government can provide. What NSF

Written byJeffrey Mervis

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Florida State's victory over MIT in gaining a new lab makes it clear that NSF is inclined to reward fresh vision and determination

The National Science Foundation wants universities to know that it takes more than technical excellence and a good reputation to win a large grant. What's required are hard work, a long-range vision, a commitment to training the next generation of scientists, and a knack for obtaining outside funding to augment whatever the federal government can provide.

What NSF wants, in other words, is someone like solid state physicist Jack E. Crow.

On August 17, NSF shook up the world of materials science when it awarded Florida State University a five-year, $60 million grant to build the nation's leading research facility in high magnetic fields, which can be used to investigate the structure of complex biological molecules, as well as to create new materials for use in superconducting ...

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