Arrangement to benefit students, research and create backing opportunities
October 13, 2016 
RICHLAND, Wash. - A new Arrangement between the D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab and the University of Oregon will allow scientists to obtain joint appointments that bridge the 2 research institutions. The Arrangement paves the way for greater collaboration between the 2 institutions, which have partnered in the past on numerous plans but never under such a broad agreement.
"This is the culmination of a couple of decades of deep collaboration between researchers at the UO and PNNL scientists," said Jim Hutchison, UO's Lokey-Harrington Chair in chemistry and associate vice president for research. "This enhanced partnership will allow us to build on those successes and both institutions will be enriched by this continued and expanded exchange of expertise and knowledge."
UO researchers will benefit from their exposure to the high-impact team research environment at PNNL, and UO's expertise in materials synthesis, electrocatalysis, green chemistry and other areas will help complement PNNL's strengths.
"PNNL scientists with joint appointments will serve as mentors to UO graduate students, and both groups will gain access to new tools and technologies," said Doug Ray director of strategic partnerships at PNNL. "The collaboration will help both institutions tackle challenges of global importance with an initial focus on materials that impact energy production, storage, environment and national security."
"This mutually beneficial Arrangement will strengthen ties between our 2 institutions," said David Conover, UO's vice president for research and innovation. "It will open up new avenues of external research backing and provide exciting opportunities for our graduate students to work at one of the premier research centers in the country."
The initial commitment of the joint appointment Arrangement is focused on chemistry, biochemistry and materials science. In the near future, Ray says, there is mutual interest in building stronger connections in the life sciences as well as in high-energy physics. The 1st appointments will be connected to UO's Energy and Sustainable Materials Cluster of Excellence, which looks for to build upon the established record of excellence in materials science at UO by hiring 3 new faculty members and creating a collaborative team of researchers.
These appointments from PNNL will strengthen our team, particularly in the energy and sustainable materials area, and complement the tenure-line hires we are currently targeting," said Shannon Boettcher, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry and director of UO's Energy and Sustainable Materials initiative. "This will allow us to increase the impact of our research plan and, ultimately, the ability to positively affect society at large."
Students in the UO's Graduate Internship Plan will also benefit from the new agreement. A blend of real-world training and graduate level instruction, the Plan fast-tracks students into scientific careers in high-tech growth sectors such as semiconductor technology, polymer materials and optical materials and devices. Under the new agreement, there will be opportunities to expand the Graduate Internship Plan into new emerging technology sectors, including some of PNNL's areas of research expertise.
Tags: Operations, Facilities
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. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.
