New NSF Center for Bioanalytical Metrology Launched
A new NSF Industry-University Cooperative Research Center, the Center for Bioanalytic Metrology (CBM) was officially launched in October 2019. The CBM, a joint venture between Notre Dame, Purdue and Indiana University, will focus the innovative problem-solving capabilities of faculty and students on addressing key measurement science concerns of industry members. To date, Eli Lilly, Abbvie, ExxonMobil, Indiana Bioscience Research Institute, Corteva Agriscience, Bristol Myers Squibb, Agilent, Sartorius and Genentech have all officially joined the center, with several additional companies expected to join in the coming months.
Center Director, Notre Dame Professor Paul Bohn, describes the unique mission of the CBM, “The CBM is building important collaborative bridges between academia and industry. We are familiarizing our faculty with the key problems and unmet needs of industry in the measurement science arena and we are helping to focus their creativity and innovation on addressing these challenges. We have already funded several exciting collaborative research projects and are looking forward to kicking off many more.”
Lane Baker, CBM Site Director from Indiana University added, “The CBM business model is very attractive to our industry members. All research takes place under the terms of a master membership agreement, meaning that new projects can be launched with minimal bureaucratic delay. Since the center receives funds from NSF to manage administrative costs, all of the membership fees from our industry members go toward funding projects. In addition, the universities have agreed not to charge overhead for projects funded through the center, and member companies often collaborate to share costs for jointly fund projects. Overall, this is a very attractive deal for our industry partners, providing faster results and better value than conventional one on one industry-university funded research projects.”
Garth Simpson, CBM site Director from Purdue University explains, “CBM also offers an important mechanism for industry members to work closely with faculty and students on important areas of research. This can help to provide the continual lifelong learning that is now recognized to be vitally important for researchers in industry, and can also provide an important pipeline to talent, allowing industry researchers to work closely with graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who may become potential new hires.”