This award from the Division of Materials Research and the Office of Multidisciplinary Activities of the Mathematical and physical Sciences Directorate supports Florida State University to host the NSF's Large Facilities Workshop in Tallahassee, FL, on April 19-21, 2011. The 2011 NSF Large Facilities Workshop will share the goals of previous workshops, which are to bring together program directors, facility managers and others involved in large facility management, to discuss common issues and learn from each other?s experiences. The emphasis is on facility operation rather than scientific research. Specific goals include discussions of facility operating experiences, development of personal contacts between facilities, education on current issues, and discussions of current concerns. The awardee operates the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL). The NHMFL is a network of three institutions, the University of Florida in Gainesville, and the the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. It is the only national user facility of its kind in the United States. It has the largest and highest-powered magnet laboratory in the world. The meeting will occur over 3 days, and include plenary sessions, breakout discussions, and field trips to large facilities at FSU (NHMFL and The Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility. The meeting will contribute to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of large facilities operators by facilitating dissemination of, and access to, information regarding the efficient management of large facilities. By seeking out and sharing better ways to operate and manage these facilities, administrators can strengthen, broaden and perpetuate the capabilities of NSF-supported research infrastructure.
Florida State University: NSF Award I.D. 1135249 The fourth annual NSF Large Facilities Workshop (LFW) was hosted in Tallahassee, Florida by the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) at Florida State University (FSU) April 19-21, 2011. Intellectual Merit: The purpose of this annual meeting was to bring together NSF staff and personnel from NSF-funded large facilities that are currently in operation. The workshop provided a forum for discussing best practices, sharing lessons learned, making new contacts and fostering better interaction between facility operators and managers to promote more efficient and effective facility operation across the spectrum of NSF-support installations. Five major themes were discussed by more than twenty presenters: Stewardship, management & and the "business" of large facilities Users programs: selection and time allocation Challenges for NSF large facilities Role and impact of large facilities in outreach and public education Miscellaneous topics of relevance to large facilities operations The workshop involved 82 participants, who were engaged for three days of presentations, meetings, breakout sessions, and site visits to two facility installations at FSU. The site visit to the 370,000 sq. ft. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) at FSU enabled participants to tour the only national user facility of its kind in the United States. It has the largest and highest-powered magnet laboratory in the world. The other site visit was to the Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility (ARF), a facility that is a national repository for geological materials collected in Polar Regions. The facility houses over 20,000 meters of deep-sea core sediment and over 5,000 kg of dredge, trawl, and grab samples, the largest such Southern Ocean collection in the world. Pre-Conference half-day working sessions were scheduled as "roll-up-your-sleeves" opportunities for participants to leverage and share challenges and best practices with other facilities' experts in a small group format. The two areas of focus were business systems processes and common questions/emerging issues for NSF. These efforts contribute to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of large facilities operations by facilitating the dissemination of, and access to, information regarding the efficient management of large facilities. Large facilities are important parts of the infrastructure that supports research, education and training in the sciences. The workshop served as an effective means for sharing operating experiences, development of personal contacts between facilities, education on current issues, and discussion of current concerns relevant to all operators of large facilities. By seeking out and sharing better ways to operate and manage these facilities, administrators were able to strengthen, broaden and perpetuate the capabilities of NSF-supported research infrastructure. Broader Impacts: This workshop facilitated broader understanding of issues commonly faced by all NSF-funded operators of large facilities. Large facilities are fundamental components of NSF’s teaching and training mission. By sharing knowledge and experiences, operators were able to strengthen their ability to efficiently manage their facilities for the benefit of all researchers, students and educators. The workshop served as a forum to disseminate information regarding a variety of technical issues related to the management of large facilities, thus enhancing the operational capabilities of shared-use large facilities among a diverse group of participants.
