Montana State University receives $1.5 million for cutting-edge, versatile research equipment

With two National Science Foundation grants totaling nearly $1.5 million, Montana State University will invest in two new instruments that are likely to support hundreds of researchers in expanding the boundaries of engineering, chemistry, biology and more.

The funding through NSF's Major Research Instrumentation program will allow the university to acquire a versatile, custom-made microscope for MSU's Center for Biofilm Engineering and a specialized nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, spectrometer. The NSF program is intended to support a broad range of research activity by financing equipment that would be too costly to purchase with traditional grants focused on specific research projects.

"This is a big achievement," said Valérie Copié, director of the MSU Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Facility and professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in MSU's College of Letters and Science. "It's a testament to the science that's happening at MSU," she said, noting that the success rate for the highly competitive grants is roughly 1-in-10.

Michael Mock, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, is leading the acquisition of the NMR instrument with Copié as well as Matthew Cook, another assistant professor in the department. "We're incredibly excited to be able to get this instrument," said Mock, whose research focuses on developing catalysts for converting nitrogen — the primary gas in the atmosphere — into ammonia, which can be used in fuel cells to produce energy. "It's going to add some really valuable capabilities that will be of interest to researchers across multiple colleges at MSU."

Read the full story from Montana State University here.