From: Faculty and Research E-Memo (memofrom@Colorado.EDU)
Date: Mon Aug 24 2009 - 21:16:30 MDT
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:16:30 -0600 (MDT) From: Faculty and Research E-Memo <memofrom@Colorado.EDU> Subject: Opportunity for Faculty Participation in CU-Boulder's New Energy
TO: Boulder Campus Teaching & Research Faculty,
Deans, Directors, Dept Chairs, System Administration
FROM: Russell Moore, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, University of
Colorado at Boulder(UCB)
Robert McGrath, Science and Technology Deputy Laboratory Director,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
SENDER: Russell Moore, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research, University of
Colorado at Boulder(UCB)
Robert McGrath, Science and Technology Deputy Laboratory Director,
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
DATE: August 25, 2009
SUBJECT: Opportunity for Faculty Participation in CU-Boulder's New Energy
Institute
UCB and NREL have a shared history of collaboration and cooperation in
education, research, and public service. Members of the two institutions
have collaborated in research consortia and programs, and have forged
extensive personal and professional bonds. Because of the scope and
complexity of national and global energy challenges, and associated impacts
on global economies and the environment, the needs for enhanced research,
education and commercialization activities are substantial and
long-enduring.
To meet these needs, UCB and NREL together have formed the Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI, pronounced "racy").
As you may know, last October the U.S. Department of Energy selected the
Alliance for Sustainable Energy (the Alliance), of which UCB is a formal
member, to manage the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Consequently,
the UCB Vice Chancellor for Research sits on the Alliance's Board of
Directors that manages the NREL.
Capitalizing on long standing partnerships and on the recently formed
Alliance structure, RASEI has been formed to serve as the focal point for
the University's research and education activities on renewable and
sustainable energy, and as a catalyst for UCB / NREL communications and
cooperative projects. A memorandum of understanding describing how this new
partnership will be structured can be accessed at:
http://rasei.colorado.edu/index.php?id=63&pid=63&page=Reports&parent=8.
As indicated in the MOU, NREL scientists and UCB faculty will have the
opportunity to participate in RASEI either as Fellows with a high expected
level of participation and involvement in institute governance or as
Affiliates with participation expected to be primarily related to
interdisciplinary research projects. Additional information about the
envisioned role of Fellows and Affiliates in RASEI can be found in section D
of the Energy Initiative Steering Committee's Report, which can also be
accessed at the web address given above.
At this time, we are seeking expressions of interest from researchers at
both institutions who are interested in being involved in RASEI during its
formative stage, or who wish to be considered for appointment as either
Fellow or Affiliate in the institute. If you would like to be involved in
RASEI, we ask that you submit a letter of interest along with a professional
vita to either Ray Stults (NREL) or Carl Koval (UCB) as soon as possible,
but not later than September 30, 2009.
In the letter of interest, we ask that you briefly address the following
points:
- describe the reasons for your overall interest in becoming involved in
RASEI,
- give examples of past or ongoing energy-related research collaborations in
which you have or are participating,
- synergies between UCB and NREL energy-related research programs that you
envision to be advantageous in terms of developing competitive research
proposals,
To formally initiate the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, we are
appointing Dr. Stults and Prof. Koval as interim co-Directors of RASEI. In
parallel, Drs. Christopher Bowman (UCB), James Brainard (NREL), Daniel
Dessau (UCB) and Larry Kazmerski (NREL) have agreed to serve as members on
the interim Executive Committee for RASEI. The first matter that the
executive committee will undertake will be to review letters of interest and
professional vitas received, and, in consultation with Drs. Koval and
Stults, make recommendations to us regarding initial appointments as Fellows
and Affiliates within RASEI. The co-Directors and Executive Committee
Members will then organize regular meetings of the RASEI Fellows who will
finalize the governance structure defined within the RASEI MOU, and actively
work to initiate proposal submissions and other programmatic activities.
Note that any NREL fellow or affiliate nominations associated with the
planning and analysis topics identified in B.1 of the Energy Initiative
Steering Committee's Report will be considered within the context of the
Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) that is being
established under the auspices of the Alliance for Sustainable Energy - the
LLC that formally manages NREL.
The national priorities to find innovative solutions for energy production
and utilization, coupled with the growing global impetus to reduce
greenhouse gases and the harmful effects of climate change, make this an
exciting and dynamic time to be involved in these efforts. However, the
reality remains that competition for resources to support energy-related
research activities will be fierce. RASEI Fellows and Affiliates must be
highly motivated to develop nationally competitive collaborative research
programs. Recent federal funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), reports
from public policy organizations such as the Brookings Institute, and
language included in legislation recently passed by the U.S. House of
Representatives, all suggest that successful proposals for leadership roles
in energy R&D may need to include strong regional partnerships with other
Colorado universities, laboratories and industries, or similar partnerships
that are national in scope. We expect RASEI to serve as a vehicle for
stimulating both regional and national partnerships and for supporting large
and small proposals for cooperative research to be conducted by UCB and NREL
researchers. We anticipate that the new funding procured will bring
resources and recognition to both institutions, and that the innovations
developed will bring additional economic vitality Colorado.
We look forward to hearing from you regarding your interest in participating
in RASEI.
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