ACADEMIA

The University of New Mexico will lead a consortium to collaborate on research with Los Alamos National Laboratory that could give the University of California a boost in a possible bid to manage the lab. The New Mexico Consortium - consisting of UNM, New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology in Socorro - could join UC to form the Institute for Advanced Studies, the partners announced Thursday. The institute would be created if UC wins the contract to manage the nuclear weapons lab. The UC Board of Regents haven't voted on whether to bid for the Los Alamos job, but have told staff to prepare as though they will bid. UNM President Louis Caldera called the agreement historic. "We're just excited. We think it's a great partnership," he said. He said the universities are interested in collaborating on scientific research and educational programs with the lab. "It makes UC a more formidable bidder to have the New Mexico universities and (Gov. Bill Richardson) and the congressional delegation effectively supporting their position in the rebid," Caldera said. The New Mexico Consortium would not take over day-to-day management of the lab, which was effectively shut down last summer after two classified disks were reported missing. They were later found never to have existed. Management would be left to UC, which has run the lab since it was formed during World War II to develop the atomic bomb. "We're not trying to take on the headaches of the management aspect," Caldera said. "We're trying to have a seat at the table about how the science that is occurring there can strengthen our research." UC spokesman Chris Harrington said joining with the New Mexico universities does not preclude private industrial partners being added to the UC team. He also did not rule out partnerships with other institutions of higher education. Terry Yates, UNM's Vice President for Research and Economic Development, said the universities' location would be a "huge asset" for UC in the bidding. "Because of our geographical proximity, that opens up a lot of opportunities for collaboration on education and research," he said. UNM officials said the joint work between the lab and the universities includes nanotechnology, cancer research, astronomy, quantum computing, materials science and environmental sciences. The consortium also would help UC recruit and retain qualified scientists, engineers and staff, Yates said. Lab spokesman Kevin Roark welcomed the increased pool of students and postdoctoral candidates that could come from New Mexico universities as part of the consortium. "The more (students) from New Mexico universities, the happier we are," he said. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Thursday that UC's effort to reach out to New Mexico institutions is one advantage of putting the Los Alamos lab contract out for bid. "I only wish UC didn't tie this sort of effort to winning the contract and would, instead, pursue them as a matter of course," he said in a news release. The federal government's final specifications for the Los Alamos contract may be released in early April; the bidding deadline will be 90 days after the release. The UC regents may vote on whether or not to bid in late spring. The consortium strengthens existing agreements between New Mexico's universities, the lab and UC. "It solidifies those relationships and takes them to the next level," Roark said. Caldera, a former vice chancellor in the California State University system and California lawmaker, said discussions about collaboration between state universities and the lab have been going on for the past two years. Should the UC decline to bid on the Los Alamos contract, Caldera said the New Mexico Consortium would remain intact. He said UNM has been approached by as many as a dozen private companies and other universities interested in joining forces in the competition for the lab contract. "Many people recognized that it would be a coup to their bid to have New Mexico universities as partners in this process," he said. - HEATHER CLARK Associated Press