Pictured above during a Thursday signing ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution’s Castle Commons are, from left, Wayne Clough, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; ORNL Director Thom Mason; and ORNL associate lab director for computing and computational sciences Jeff Nichols. (Photo by John Gibbons/Smithsonian)

The Smithsonian Institution and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have announced a new partnership to support collaborative research programs and science education efforts. This is the first partnership between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Smithsonian, which was formalized during the signing of a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, on Thursday, June 12.

The Smithsonian and Oak Ridge National Laboratory both examine many of the world’s most complex and time-sensitive scientific problems and support many research programs that complement and reinforce each other. They also support science education to impact students and teachers from elementary school through post-doctoral studies. The MOU, signed by Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough and ORNL Director Thom Mason, creates a framework for future collaboration between the two organizations that leverages the strengths of each.

“The Smithsonian is proud to partner with another organization that realizes that basic research is vital to the future of the nation, and that knowledge about the natural world is inherently valuable to society,” Clough said. “This agreement will help us each maximize our strengths and achieve our common goals across a broad spectrum of scientific endeavor.” [Read more…]