Planning for National Ultrahigh Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Network

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With support from both the Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Division of Materials Research, an award is made to the University of Delaware to design and develop plans for a national network of ultrahigh field (UHF) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer facilities. The overall goal of the project will be to create the most powerful NMR network in the world with comprehensive resources and expertise, spanning key areas of NSF interest, that will be accessible to the entire scientific community within the United States. Gains in sensitivity, resolution, and information content are highly nonlinear with magnetic field strength, and ultrahigh fields combined with state-of-the-art NMR probes and pulse sequences will enable fundamental investigations, with atomic resolution, of emergent phenomena not accessible with the current technologies. State-of-the-art UHF NMR instruments will be sited at strategically located public institutions geographically distributed across the US. The NMR network will be made available to researchers across multiple disciplines for advancing the development and use of in vivo, in vitro, in situ, solution, and solid-state NMR spectroscopy to address diverse problems of high fundamental and technological importance. Instruments will be connected through a central cyberinfrastructure hub and integrated with other high-field and UHF NMR instrumentation. The proposed nationwide UHF NMR network will enable experts and non-experts to access both UHF NMR instruments and a diversity of NMR expertise. The intellectual framework established through the proposed network will provide unique training for students in state- of-the-art NMR methods and applications. The outreach program encompassing training in NMR instrumentation and application of NMR methods will be invaluable for the development of the next generation of scientists.Planning the UHF NMR network will set the stage to address the urgent nationwide need for ultrahigh field NMR infrastructure. The planning activities supported by this award will identify the primary scientific, technical and system performance requirements and associated designs and specifications for the UHF NMR network. Through these activities, the researchers will formulate a plan to execute and manage the UHF NMR network, including a project schedule with identified risks and plans to mitigate them, a governance plan and effective project management methods for tracking progress, costs and performance. Outcomes from this effort will include sound baseline cost estimates for implementation and anticipated operations and maintenance costs. The researchers will also develop plans for effective student training and the involvement of a diverse workforce in instrumentation, facility development, and data analysis.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.