The University is one of six schools that has been asked to help manage the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a research facility in Tennessee.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a multi-program science and technology laboratory managed for the U.S. Department of Energy.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Energy, which runs the Oak Ridge laboratory and several other national laboratories, awarded the UT-Battelle, LLC company a $2.5 billion contract for their proposal to manage the laboratory for five years.
Hudson said UT-Battelle asked the University and five other schools, all located in the southeast, to cooperate in the project about a year ago to strengthen their proposal.
UT-Battelle, LLC, was formed by University of Tennessee scientists and the management company Battelle Memorial Institute of Columbus, Ohio, specifically to compete for the Oak Ridge management position, said David Hudson, University associate vice president for research and public service.
University officials said participation in the lab's management would allow the school more opportunity to collaborate with scientists in the region. The five other universities in the program are Virginia Tech, Duke University, North Carolina State University, Georgia Tech and Florida State University.
John Wilson, director of Oak Ridge collaboration at Virginia Tech, said one representative from each of those universities will sit on the Board of Governors of UT-Battelle as a management team to broaden academic views. The Board of Governors will run the company and UT-Battelle will be in a position to directly manage the lab, Wilson said.
Hudson said the University's representative would be someone designated by University President John T. Casteen III.
He said that being one of the schools on the governing board benefits the University in many ways.
"Having access to these premises, we can expand the range of capabilities for our research staff," he added.
Hudson said the possibility of hiring people to work at the University and at Oak Ridge would make it "easier for us to attract good scientists."
He said that collaborating with the five other schools would provide some benefits to the University.
"We can build collaborative relationships with other scientists, and with other good research institutions in the southeast," he added.
Hudson said the University has been sending scientists to conduct research at Oak Ridge for many years.
The Oak Ridge Laboratory was opened when atomic bombs were being made in the U.S., but now it has a "very broad perspective" of fields of research, including environmental, genetic and computer research, Wilson said.
In addition to having a seat on the Board of Governors, the University would have a seat on a science and technology steering committee that would advise the board, Hudson said.
John F. Burness, Duke University senior vice president for public affairs, said the selection of these six schools is a positive reflection of their reputation.
"This is a significant statement about the quality of these institutions," Burness said.
Hudson said the last company to manage Oak Ridge was Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp., which also competed for the management position this year.
"I think we had a better overall package," he said. "The proposal was multifaceted, unusual and covered a lot of ground" in many fields of research.
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