Thursday, August 13, 2009

UCSB, USC Benefit From Energy Research Grants

The Department of Energy (DOE) said this week that it has awarded $377M in funding for 46, Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs) focused on reducing dependence on imported oil and to curtail greenhouse gas emissions, including a center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and one at the University of Southern California. The DOE said the awards--which were funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act--includes $19M given to UCSB, which will go towards discovering an developing materials that control the interactions between light, electricity, and heat at the nanoscale for improved solar energy conversion, solid-state lighting, and conversion of heat into electricity; and $12.5M, given to USC to explore the light absorbing and emitting properties of hybrid inorganic-organic materials for solar energy conversion and solid state lighting. Both grants are over five years.

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