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Brad Sherrill is chief scientist of MSU's Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. He also is heading up MSU's role in the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium.

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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University is among several institutions that will share a five-year, $25 million grant designed to prepare students to work on the country’s nuclear security needs, including the threat posed by the potential proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The grant is from the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Security Administration. It will fund  the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium, which will focus on education and hands-on training of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students. The core set of experimental disciplines that support this mission include nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry, nuclear instrumentation and nuclear engineering.

“MSU’s role is one of the sources for the pipeline of talented researchers who can take positions at the U.S. national laboratories to solve some of the greatest challenges of U.S. national security,” said Brad Sherrill, chief scientist of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at MSU and leader of the MSU team on the NSSC project. “MSU is the top nuclear physics graduate program in the nation and hence is one of the top places where students learn about nuclear science. This makes MSU a natural partner in such a venture.”

Along with MSU, the NSSC will pool some of the nation’s leading educational and research resources in physics, chemistry, engineering and public policy, and devise collaborative mechanisms for attracting highly qualified students and preparing them to become leaders in the nation’s nuclear security work force.

The consortium will be led by the University of California – Berkeley. Other institutions include MSU, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Washington University, St. Louis; three other University of California campuses (Davis, Irvine and San Diego); and UC’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation.

Students at all levels will be able to work on current nonproliferation projects at the Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories.

“We are excited about the chance to work with other top universities in nuclear engineering, nuclear chemistry and nuclear policy to develop educational programs,” Sherrill said. “It is also a great opportunity to offer our students the chance for a broader educational experience.”

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Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.