II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1199 

To strengthen the capacity of eligible institutions to provide instruction in 

nanotechnology. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 24, 2007 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. SMITH, Mr. PRYOR, and Mr. KERRY) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To strengthen the capacity of eligible institutions to provide 

instruction in 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 ‘‘Nanotechnology in the 

5 Schools Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 

9 (1) The rapidly growing field of nanotechnology 

10 is generating scientific and technological breakVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:36 Apr 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1199.IS S1199

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1 throughs that will benefit society by improving the 

2 way many things are designed and made. 

3 (2) Nanotechnology is likely to have a signifi4 cant, positive impact on the security, economic well5 being, and health of Americans as fields related to 

6 nanotechnology expand. 

7 (3) In order to maximize the benefits of 

8 nanotechnology to individuals in the United States, 

9 the United States must maintain world leadership in 

10 the field of nanotechnology, including nanoscience 

11 and microtechnology, in the face of determined com12 petition from other nations. 

13 (4) According to the National Science Founda14 tion, foreign students on temporary visas earned 32 

15 percent of all science and engineering doctorates 

16 awarded in the United States in 2003, the last year 

17 for which data is available. Foreign students earned 

18 55 percent of the engineering doctorates. Many of 

19 these students expressed an intent to return to their 

20 country of origin after completing their study. 

21 (5) To maintain world leadership in 

22 nanotechnology, the United States must make a 

23 long-term investment in educating United States 

24 students in secondary schools and institutions of 

25 higher education, so that the students are able to 


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1 conduct nanoscience research and develop and com2 mercialize nanotechnology applications. 

3 (6) Preparing United States students for ca4 reers in nanotechnology, including nanoscience, re5 quires that the students have access to the necessary 

6 scientific tools, including scanning electron micro7 scopes designed for teaching, and requires training 

8 to enable teachers and professors to use those tools 

9 in the classroom and the laboratory. 

10 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to 

11 strengthen the capacity of United States secondary 

12 schools and institutions of higher education to prepare 

13 students for careers in nanotechnology by providing grants 

14 to those schools and institutions to provide the tools nec15 essary for such preparation. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘eligi19 ble institution’’ means an institution that is— 

20 (A) a public or charter secondary school 

21 that offers 1 or more advanced placement 

22 science courses or international baccalaureate 

23 science courses; 


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1 (B) a community college, as defined in sec2 tion 3301 of the Elementary and Secondary 

3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7011); or 

4 (C) a 4-year institution of higher education 

5 or a branch, within the meaning of section 498 

6 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 1099c), of such an institution. 

8 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION; SEC9 ONDARY SCHOOL; SECRETARY.—The terms ‘‘institu10 tion of higher education’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and 

11 ‘‘Secretary’’ have the meanings given the terms in 

12 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu13 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

14 (3) QUALIFIED NANOTECHNOLOGY EQUIP15 MENT.—The term ‘‘qualified nanotechnology equip16 ment’’ means equipment, instrumentation, or hard17 ware that is— 

18 (A) used for teaching nanotechnology in 

19 the classroom; and 

20 (B) manufactured in the United States at 

21 least 50 percent from articles, materials, or 

22 supplies that are mined, produced, or manufac23 tured, as the case may be, in the United States. 


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1 SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

3 Science Foundation (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Direc4 tor’’) shall establish a nanotechnology in the schools pro5 gram to strengthen the capacity of eligible institutions to 

6 provide instruction in nanotechnology. In carrying out the 

7 program, the Director shall award grants of not more than 

8 $150,000 to eligible institutions to provide such instruc9 tion. 

10 (b) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution shall 

12 use a grant awarded under this Act— 

13 (A) to acquire qualified nanotechnology 

14 equipment and software designed for teaching 

15 students about nanotechnology in the class16 room; 

17 (B) to develop and provide educational 

18 services, including carrying out faculty develop19 ment, to prepare students or faculty seeking a 

20 degree or certificate that is approved by the 

21 State, or a regional accrediting body recognized 

22 by the Secretary of Education; and 

23 (C) to provide teacher education and cer24 tification to individuals who seek to acquire or 

25 enhance technology skills in order to use 


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1 nanotechnology in the classroom or instruc2 tional process. 

3 (2) LIMITATION.— 

(A) USES.—Not more than 1 4 ⁄4 of the 

5 amount of the funds made available through a 

6 grant awarded under this Act may be used for 

7 software, educational services, or teacher edu8 cation and certification as described in this sub9 section. 

10 (B) PROGRAMS.—In the case of a grant 

11 awarded under this Act to a community college 

12 or institution of higher education, the funds 

13 made available through the grant may be used 

14 only in undergraduate programs. 

15 (c) APPLICATIONS AND SELECTION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

17 grant under this Act, an eligible institution shall 

18 submit an application to the Director at such time, 

19 in such manner, and accompanied by such informa20 tion as the Director may reasonably require. 

21 (2) PROCEDURE.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

23 shall establish a procedure for accepting such appli24 cations and publish an announcement of such proceVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:36 Apr 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1199.IS S1199

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1 dure, including a statement regarding the avail2 ability of funds, in the Federal Register. 

3 (3) SELECTION.—In selecting eligible institu4 tions to receive grants under this Act, and encour5 aging eligible institutions to apply for such grants, 

6 the Director shall, to the greatest extent prac7 ticable— 

8 (A) select eligible entities in geographically 

9 diverse locations; 

10 (B) encourage the application of histori11 cally Black colleges and universities (meaning 

12 part B institutions, as defined in section 322 of 

13 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

14 1061)) and minority institutions (as defined in 

15 section 365 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1067k)); 

16 and 

17 (C) select eligible institutions that include 

18 institutions located in States participating in 

19 the Experimental Program to Stimulate Com20 petitive Research (commonly known as 

21 ‘‘EPSCoR’’). 

22 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENT AND LIMITATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

24 (A) REQUIREMENT.—The Director may 

25 not award a grant to an eligible institution 


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1 under this Act unless such institution agrees 

2 that, with respect to the costs to be incurred by 

3 the institution in carrying out the program for 

4 which the grant was awarded, such institution 

5 will make available (directly or through dona6 tions from public or private entities) non-Federal contributions in an amount equal to 1 7 ⁄4 of 

8 the amount of the grant. 

9 (B) WAIVER.—The Director shall waive 

10 the matching requirement described in subpara11 graph (A) for any institution with no endow12 ment, or an endowment that has a dollar value 

13 lower than $5,000,000, as of the date of the 

14 waiver. 

15 (2) LIMITATION.— 

16 (A) BRANCHES.—If a branch described in 

17 section 3(1)(C) receives a grant under this Act 

18 that exceeds $100,000, that branch shall not be 

19 eligible, until 2 years after the date of receipt 

20 of the grant, to receive another grant under this 

21 Act. 

22 (B) OTHER ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.—If 

23 an eligible institution other than a branch re24 ferred to in subparagraph (A) receives a grant 

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1 stitution shall not be eligible, until 2 years after 

2 the date of receipt of the grant, to receive an3 other grant under this Act. 

4 SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT AND EVALUATION. 

5 (a) REPORT BY INSTITUTIONS.—Each institution 

6 that receives a grant under this Act shall prepare and sub7 mit a report to the Director, not later than 1 year after 

8 the date of receipt of the grant, on its use of the grant 

9 funds. 

10 (b) REVIEW AND EVALUATION.— 

11 (1) REVIEW.—The Director shall annually re12 view the reports submitted under subsection (a). 

13 (2) EVALUATION.—At the end of every third 

14 year, the Director shall evaluate the program au15 thorized by this Act on the basis of those reports. 

16 The Director, in the evaluation, shall describe the 

17 activities carried out by the institutions receiving 

18 grants under this Act and shall assess the short19 range and long-range impact of the activities carried 

20 out under the grants on the students, faculty, and 

21 staff of the institutions. 

22 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 6 

23 months after conducting an evaluation under subsection 

24 (b), the Director shall prepare and submit a report to Con25 gress based on the evaluation. In the report, the Director 


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1 shall include such recommendations, including rec2 ommendations concerning the continuing need for Federal 

3 support of the program carried out under this Act, as may 

4 be appropriate. 

5 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc7 tor to carry out this Act $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, 

8 and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2009 

9 through 2011. 

Æ 


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