(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently awarded more than $123 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to support the construction of new scientific research facilities at 11 universities and one nonprofit research organization.

With ultimate research targets ranging from off-shore wind power and coral reef ecology to quantum physics and nanotechnology, the 12 projects will launch more than $250 million in new laboratory construction projects beginning early this year.

“These awards will create jobs by helping to fund 12 major, shovel-ready construction projects,” says U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. “These new, state-of-the-art facilities will help keep the United States at the forefront of scientific and technological innovation and will support economic growth.”

As part of it's $123 million investment, NIST has awarded $28.8 million to the following institutions for nanonscience metrology:

University of Pittsburgh ($15 million) for new laboratories for nanoscience and experimental physics

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