II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1908 

To authorize the Under Secretary of Technology of the Department of Commerce to award grants to establish up to eight Nanoscience to Commercialization Institutes throughout the United States to develop commercial 

applications for nanotechnology. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 21, 2005 

Mr. SMITH (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To authorize the Under Secretary of Technology of the Department of Commerce to award grants to establish up 

to eight Nanoscience to Commercialization Institutes 

throughout the United States to develop commercial applications for nanotechnology. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nanoscience to Com5 mercialization Institutes Act of 2005’’. 
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•S 1908 IS

1 SEC. 2. NANOSCIENCE TO COMMERCIALIZATION INSTI2 TUTES. 

3 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of 

5 Technology of the Department of Commerce (re6 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Under Secretary’’) is 

7 authorized to award grants to eligible entities to es8 tablish up to 8 Nanoscience to Commercialization 

9 Institutes (referred to in this Act as ‘‘Institutes’’) 

10 throughout the United States to assist in the com11 mercialization of nanotechnology. 

12 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Under Secretary 

13 shall not award a grant under this section in an 

14 amount which exceeds $1,500,000 for any year of 

15 the grant period. 

16 (3) DURATION.—The Under Secretary shall 

17 award grants under this section for a period not to 

18 exceed 3 years. 

19 (4) LOCATION.—The Under Secretary shall en20 sure that each Institute is located at either a public 

21 university or Federal laboratory. 

22 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded pursuant to 

24 subsection (a) shall be used to establish at least 1 

25 Institute in each of the following areas of 

26 nanotechnology or microtechnology: 
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1 (A) Energy, including clean coal 

2 liquification, gasification, and filtration, nuclear 

3 energy, biofuels, or fuel processing. 

4 (B) Printable electronics, including elec5 tronic displays. 

6 (C) Medical, including diagnostics, imag7 ing, or medical devices. 

8 (D) Transportation, including materials or 

9 coatings. 

10 (E) Textiles, including heat resistance, wa11 terproofing, insulation, or fireproofing. 

12 (F) Agriculture. 

13 (2) LIMITATION.—Not more than 20 percent of 

14 each grant award may be used for administrative ex15 penses or other overhead costs. 

16 (3) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—For-profit 

17 manufacturing companies conducting research and 

18 development in micro- and nanotechnologies shall 

19 provide— 

20 (A) not less than 20 percent of the funding 

21 for each Institute; and 

22 (B) in addition to the funding under sub23 paragraph (A), in-kind contributions equal to 

24 not less than 15 percent of the operating costs 

25 of the Institute. 
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1 (c) APPLICATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each entity desiring a grant 

3 under this section shall submit an application to the 

4 Under Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

5 containing such information as the Under Secretary 

6 may reasonably require. 

7 (2) COLLABORATION.—The application sub8 mitted under paragraph (1) shall include a business 

9 plan that— 

10 (A) describes how each grant recipient will 

11 collaborate with the private sector entities that 

12 will contribute expertise and matching funds; 

13 and 

14 (B) includes goals for the first year of the 

15 grant period. 

16 (3) INELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Any institution of 

17 higher education that has a federally funded 

18 nanotechnology center or is the primary lead of a 

19 nanotechnology center is not eligible for a grant 

20 under this section. 

21 (4) PEER REVIEW COMMITTEE.—The Under 

22 Secretary shall establish a peer review committee, 

23 consisting of representatives from the micro- and 

24 nanotechnology industry and early stage venture 
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1 capital firms, to review the goals and progress made 

2 by each Institute during the grant period. 

3 (5) RENEWAL OF GRANTS.— 

4 (A) Each entity that receives an initial 1- 

5 year grant under this section shall, as a condi6 tion of continued grant funding, submit a re7 port, not later than 1 year after the beginning 

8 of the grant period and annually for the next 2 

9 years, to the peer review committee established 

10 under paragraph (4). 

11 (B) The report submitted under subpara12 graph (A) shall describe the Institute’s accom13 plishments during the preceding year and the 

14 Institute’s goals for the subsequent year. 

15 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 There are authorized to be appropriated $24,000,000 

17 during the 3-year period beginning on the date of enact18 ment of this Act to carry out the provisions of this Act. 

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