Listen to the radio version of this story.
The National Science Foundation has awarded three professors from Florida A&M University a $100,000 grant. They plan to use the money on an interdisciplinary research project at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
The project, called “EAGER: Magnetic Interrogation of Mesoscale Materials,” involves three studies, including research on clean energy production and efforts to decrease U.S. dependency on foreign imports. FAMU physics Professor Mogus Mochena co-wrote the project proposal and says the research will draw from a number of scientific fields.
“We are chemists, physicists, chemical engineers who are coming together,” he says, “and hopefully we’ll have people from pharmacy and from biology joining our efforts in the next round of proposal writing.”
To explore each of these fields, Mochena and his colleagues will partner with other faculty from FAMU and Florida State University. Tallahassee’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, the highest-powered magnet lab in the world, will house the project. Mochena says the study’s most important outcome will be the collaboration among the groups.
“We’re hopefully looking forward to establishing a strong relationship and a strong research triangle culture here in Tallahassee,” he says.
According to Mochena, receiving an NSF grant is not common.
“Somewhere like 10-to-20 percent of proposals are funded,” he says. “So we are very, very lucky.”
He says the group of researchers plans to apply for an even larger grant next spring to fund two additional projects.
Copyright 2014 WFSU
