NASA's Office of Education is awarding research grants totaling nearly $35 million to seven minority institutions.

The goal of NASA's Minority University Research and Education Program is to establish significant, multi-disciplinary scientific, engineering and commercial research centers at the host universities that contribute substantially to NASA programs. The awards will help to achieve a broad based, competitive aerospace research and technology development capability among the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority Universities.

The grants also will help increase participation by faculty and students of selected colleges and universities in the research programs of NASA's mission directorates, and increase the number of underrepresented minorities who obtain advanced degrees in NASA-related fields. Each university will receive up to $1 million per year for a maximum of five years based on performance and availability of funds. NASA's Office of Education intends to issue a cooperative agreement notice for the University Research Center project in the coming fiscal year.

The university organizations selected to receive awards are:

NASA University Research Center SPACE Center, California State University, Los Angeles

WaterSCAPES: Science of Coupled Aquatic Processes in Ecosystems from Space, Florida International University, Miami

Howard University Beltsville Center for Climate System Observation, Howard University, Washington

Center of Excellence in Systems Engineering for Space Exploration Technologies, Morgan State University, Baltimore

The Center for Radiation Engineering and Science for Space Exploration, Prairie View A & M University, Prairie View, Texas

Center for Bio-Nanotechnology and Environmental Research, Texas Southern University, Houston

Center for Advanced Nanoscale Materials II, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan

For more information about the awards, visit:

http://mured.nasaprs.com