PNNL scientist gains Early Career Research Award
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Category: ResearchType: News
Source: PNNL
Date: Monday, May 14th, 2012
May 14, 2012 
$2.5-million grant will aid biofuel research
RICHLAND, Wash. - A bioinformaticist from the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab will gain an Early Career Research Award from D.O.E. to advance his research identifying proteins that could be used in biofuel production. PNNL's Sam Payne will gain a grant totaling $2.5 million over 5 years.
Payne will use the grant to develop algorithms to find specific patterns in the large amount of data generated by scientific instruments called mass spectrometers. The patterns Payne is looking for help identify proteins in complex samples of bacteria. He will use the grant to focus on bacterial communities that help cows digest plants. Better understanding how bacteria use proteins to degrade plants can enhance biofuel production.
Payne is among 68 researchers who were selected this year from a pool of about 850 proposals.
The Early Career Research Plan is designed to bolster the nation's scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the crucial early years, when many scientists do their most formative work. The Plan is funded by DOE's Office of Science.
To be eligible for an award, a researcher must have earned a doctorate within the past ten years and be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a D.O.E. national laboratory.
For more information about the Plan and the research it supports, go to the Early Career Research Plan website.
Tags: Energy, Awards and Recognizes, Biofuel
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. PNNL employs 4,700 staff, has an yearly budget of nearly $1.1 billion, and has been managed for the D.O.E. by Ohio-based Battelle since the laboratory's inception in 1965. For more, visit the PNNL's News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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