East DFW News

The University of Texas at El Paso signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory to create new research opportunities for UTEP faculty and students as well as internship and employment opportunities in critical fields such as energy, data science and quantum information. 

“Long-term partnerships with national laboratories like Brookhaven become more important as we expand UTEP’s research portfolio and graduate more and more doctoral students,” said UTEP President Heather Wilson. “We look forward to working together.” 

Brookhaven Lab, located in Long Island, New York, is one of 10 national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the DOE’s Office of Science. It opened in 1947 and is home to seven Nobel Prizes and more than 2,500 staff members.

The agreement signed today stems from interests shared by both UTEP and Brookhaven in advancing discovery in science, technology and engineering, officials from both institutions said. 

“Brookhaven is honored to have entered into an MOU with UTEP,” said Brookhaven Lab Director Doon Gibbs. “We look forward to leveraging the facilities and expertise of our two institutions, identifying areas where we can collaborate to solve national challenges, and developing the next generation of scientists and engineers.” 

To foster collaboration and help develop professional relationships, UTEP and Brookhaven will implement exchange visits, study tours and short courses offered at both locations so that members of the Brookhaven team can learn about the work done at UTEP and vice versa.

For UTEP faculty and students, this plan will offer the added benefit of access to advanced research facilities and specialized equipment not widely available at universities nationally.

UTEP and Brookhaven will also proactively work to identify opportunities for UTEP students to work at or with the lab on projects that could lead to future employment opportunities.

Alex Harris, Ph.D., director of Energy Science and Technology at Brookhaven, will serve as the lab’s liaison with the University. His counterpart will be Carlos R. Cabrera Martínez, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in UTEP’s College of Science.

One of the first products of the agreement that is already underway is a research collaboration between UTEP faculty and members of the chemistry department at Brookhaven on sustainable energy. Several more joint initiatives are now in the planning stages. 

Original source can be found here