A bill to strengthen the capacity of eligible institutions to provide instruction in nanotechnology.

Summary: Nanotechnology in the Schools Act - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish a nanotechnology in the schools program awarding grants to public or charter secondary schools offering advanced science courses and to institutions of higher education, for the purchase of nanotechnology equipment and software and the provision of nanotechnology education to students and teachers.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nanotechnology in the Schools Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The rapidly growing field of nanotechnology is 
        generating scientific and technological breakthroughs that will 
        benefit society by improving the way many things are designed 
        and made.
            (2) Nanotechnology is likely to have a significant, 
        positive impact on the security, economic well-being, and 
        health of Americans as fields related to nanotechnology expand.
            (3) In order to maximize the benefits of nanotechnology to 
        individuals in the United States, the United States must 
        maintain world leadership in the field of nanotechnology, 
        including nanoscience and microtechnology, in the face of 
        determined competition from other nations.
            (4) According to the National Science Foundation, foreign 
        students on temporary visas earned 32 percent of all science 
        and engineering doctorates awarded in the United States in 
        2003, the last year for which data is available. Foreign 
        students earned 55 percent of the engineering doctorates. Many 
        of these students expressed an intent to return to their 
        country of origin after completing their study.
            (5) To maintain world leadership in nanotechnology, the 
        United States must make a long-term investment in educating 
        United States students in secondary schools and institutions of 
        higher education, so that the students are able to conduct 
        nanoscience research and develop and commercialize 
        nanotechnology applications.
            (6) Preparing United States students for careers in 
        nanotechnology, including nanoscience, requires that the 
        students have access to the necessary scientific tools, 
        including scanning electron microscopes designed for teaching, 
        and requires training to enable teachers and professors to use 
        those tools in the classroom and the laboratory.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to strengthen the capacity 
of United States secondary schools and institutions of higher education 
to prepare students for careers in nanotechnology by providing grants 
to those schools and institutions to provide the tools necessary for 
such preparation.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Eligible institution.--The term ``eligible 
        institution'' means an institution that is--
                    (A) a public or charter secondary school that 
                offers 1 or more advanced placement science courses or 
                international baccalaureate science courses;
                    (B) a community college, as defined in section 3301 
                of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
                (20 U.S.C. 7011); or
                    (C) a 4-year institution of higher education or a 
                branch, within the meaning of section 498 of the Higher 
                Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099c), of such an 
                institution.
            (2) Institution of higher education; secondary school; 
        secretary.--The terms ``institution of higher education'', 
        ``secondary school'', and ``Secretary'' have the meanings given 
        the terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (3) Qualified nanotechnology equipment.--The term 
        ``qualified nanotechnology equipment'' means equipment, 
        instrumentation, or hardware that is--
                    (A) used for teaching nanotechnology in the 
                classroom; and
                    (B) manufactured in the United States at least 50 
                percent from articles, materials, or supplies that are 
                mined, produced, or manufactured, as the case may be, 
                in the United States.

SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    (a) In General.--The Director of the National Science Foundation 
(referred to in this Act as the ``Director'') shall establish a 
nanotechnology in the schools program to strengthen the capacity of 
eligible institutions to provide instruction in nanotechnology. In 
carrying out the program, the Director shall award grants of not more 
than $150,000 to eligible institutions to provide such instruction.
    (b) Activities Supported.--
            (1) In general.--An eligible institution shall use a grant 
        awarded under this Act--
                    (A) to acquire qualified nanotechnology equipment 
                and software designed for teaching students about 
                nanotechnology in the classroom;
                    (B) to develop and provide educational services, 
                including carrying out faculty development, to prepare 
                students or faculty seeking a degree or certificate 
                that is approved by the State, or a regional 
                accrediting body recognized by the Secretary of 
                Education; and
                    (C) to provide teacher education and certification 
                to individuals who seek to acquire or enhance 
                technology skills in order to use nanotechnology in the 
                classroom or instructional process.
            (2) Limitation.--
                    (A) Uses.--Not more than \1/4\ of the amount of the 
                funds made available through a grant awarded under this 
                Act may be used for software, educational services, or 
                teacher education and certification as described in 
                this subsection.
                    (B) Programs.--In the case of a grant awarded under 
                this Act to a community college or institution of 
                higher education, the funds made available through the 
                grant may be used only in undergraduate programs.
    (c) Applications and Selection.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this Act, an eligible institution shall submit an application 
        to the Director at such time, in such manner, and accompanied 
        by such information as the Director may reasonably require.
            (2) Procedure.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish a procedure 
        for accepting such applications and publish an announcement of 
        such procedure, including a statement regarding the 
        availability of funds, in the Federal Register.
            (3) Selection.--In selecting eligible institutions to 
        receive grants under this Act, and encouraging eligible 
        institutions to apply for such grants, the Director shall, to 
        the greatest extent practicable--
                    (A) select eligible entities in geographically 
                diverse locations;
                    (B) encourage the application of historically Black 
                colleges and universities (meaning part B institutions, 
                as defined in section 322 of the Higher Education Act 
                of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061)) and minority institutions (as 
                defined in section 365 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1067k)); 
                and
                    (C) select eligible institutions that include 
                institutions located in States participating in the 
                Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research 
                (commonly known as ``EPSCoR'').
    (d) Matching Requirement and Limitation.--
            (1) In general.--
                    (A) Requirement.--The Director may not award a 
                grant to an eligible institution under this Act unless 
                such institution agrees that, with respect to the costs 
                to be incurred by the institution in carrying out the 
                program for which the grant was awarded, such 
                institution will make available (directly or through 
                donations from public or private entities) non-Federal 
                contributions in an amount equal to \1/4\ of the amount 
                of the grant.
                    (B) Waiver.--The Director shall waive the matching 
                requirement described in subparagraph (A) for any 
                institution with no endowment, or an endowment that has 
                a dollar value lower than $5,000,000, as of the date of 
                the waiver.
            (2) Limitation.--
                    (A) Branches.--If a branch described in section 
                3(1)(C) receives a grant under this Act that exceeds 
                $100,000, that branch shall not be eligible, until 2 
                years after the date of receipt of the grant, to 
                receive another grant under this Act.
                    (B) Other eligible institutions.--If an eligible 
                institution other than a branch referred to in 
                subparagraph (A) receives a grant under this Act that 
                exceeds $100,000, that institution shall not be 
                eligible, until 2 years after the date of receipt of 
                the grant, to receive another grant under this Act.

SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT AND EVALUATION.

    (a) Report by Institutions.--Each institution that receives a grant 
under this Act shall prepare and submit a report to the Director, not 
later than 1 year after the date of receipt of the grant, on its use of 
the grant funds.
    (b) Review and Evaluation.--
            (1) Review.--The Director shall annually review the reports 
        submitted under subsection (a).
            (2) Evaluation.--At the end of every third year, the 
        Director shall evaluate the program authorized by this Act on 
        the basis of those reports. The Director, in the evaluation, 
        shall describe the activities carried out by the institutions 
        receiving grants under this Act and shall assess the short-
        range and long-range impact of the activities carried out under 
        the grants on the students, faculty, and staff of the 
        institutions.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 6 months after conducting 
an evaluation under subsection (b), the Director shall prepare and 
submit a report to Congress based on the evaluation. In the report, the 
Director shall include such recommendations, including recommendations 
concerning the continuing need for Federal support of the program 
carried out under this Act, as may be appropriate.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Director to carry 
out this Act $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, and such sums as may be 
necessary for fiscal years 2009 through 2011.