Government Roundup

Scripps Research Institute and the University of Southern California are discussing a possible merger, officials from each institution confirmed to C&EN. They say they are exploring “the possibility of a relationship that would enhance the missions of both institutions.” No further information was available at press time.

NSF Chemistry Division Director Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague is leaving the agency this month after a year in that post. She came to NSF from the University of California, Davis, where she was chair of the department of chemistry. The search for a new director will begin soon.

Forensic science is the focus of a new center of excellence that NIST will fund. The research center, expected to be supported at $4 million annually for five years, will bring together industry, academia, and NIST to study cross-cutting forensics research. The application process will open this summer.

Energy research awards totaling $100 million were provided last week by the Department of Energy for its Energy Frontier Research Centers. In all, 32 projects were funded—23 at universities, eight at DOE national laboratories, and one at a nonprofit organization.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will be studied from space for the first time with a remote-sensing satellite that NASA will launch on July 1. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 will collect data that will be used to characterize CO₂ sources and sinks on regional scales, NASA says.

Chemical engineer John L. Anderson, president of Illinois Institute of Technology, has been named to the National Science Board. He is one of six new members that the White House announced last week. The new members of NSF’s oversight body will be sworn in at the board’s August meeting.