NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The University of Texas System Board of Regents said late Monday that it has allocated $7.5 million to support the creation of the Institute for Research Technologies at UT Arlington.
The institute, a collaboration between UT Arlington and Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, is a $25.2 million endeavor "that will transform research capabilities and [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics] education throughout the UT System and Texas," the school said in a statement.
In the spring, the Shimadzu Center for Advanced Analytical Chemistry opened, and the institute will include that center as well as the new Center for Imaging and the new Center for Environmental, Forensic, and Material Analysis.
The Shimadzu Center for Advanced Analytical Chemistry was equipped with $6 million of chromatography, mass spectrometry, and spectroscopy equipment from Shimadzu when it opened in the spring, and an additional $18.5 million in instruments will be purchased from the analytical instrument firm for the institute.
In addition to equipment, UT Arlington plans to acquire exclusive, proprietary software developed by Shimadzu that allows researchers to link remotely with analytical equipment and to access and study data in the classroom or other university facilities.
The university said that the Center for Imaging will "complement and strengthen" UT Arlington's existing Genomic Core Facility with the addition of neurobiological and high-speed imaging systems and tomography platforms, as well as a cutting-edge brain imaging device currently used only in Japan.
The Center for Environmental, Forensic, and Material Analysis, meanwhile, will provide researchers "the ability to analyze particles from the nanoscale to the macroscale," possibly resulting in the detection of environmental contaminants.
UT System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa said that the institute will provide new research opportunities for students, faculty, and private sector partners at UT Arlington as well as UT Dallas and UT Southwestern Medical Center.
"The integration of this wide-ranging technology throughout UT Arlington will provide our students the critical and essential skills they need to enter the workforce," Pamela Jansma, dean of the UT Arlington College of Science, added. "It also will help our university develop a robust influx of budding researchers at all degree levels."