A new contract announced Monday was awarded to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory by the Department of Energy to help manage and operate the facility at Iowa State.

The $30 million per year contract will take effect on Jan. 1, 2007, and run for a five-year period until Dec. 31, 2011.

“We were very enthusiastic about competing for the national contract when the call for proposals came out,” said ISU President Gregory Geoffroy. “We responded with great vigor and put together a good team here on campus to write the proposal.”

The initial contract is for five years, but can be extended for incremental periods up to 15 years beyond the initial term to encourage performance.

The Ames Laboratory will use tax payer dollars to seek solutions to energy-related problems through the exploration of physics, chemistry, engineering, applied mathematics and material sciences, said Patricia Schuneman, chairwoman of the source evaluation board.

“The contract will contain a number of innovative provisions intended to provide incentives for superior performance,” Schuneman said.

If the contractor meets the specific performance levels outlined in the contract, Iowa State could earn an annual fee of up to $835,000 for superior performance during the initial term of the contract.

“The Ames Laboratory has been an important part of Iowa State University for many, many years,” Geoffroy said. “I believe that Iowa State has contributed hugely to the success of the Ames Laboratory, and there is no question that the Ames Laboratory has contributed hugely to the success of Iowa State University.”

Under the new agreement, Iowa State has committed to restructuring and clarifying management roles and responsibilities to focus attention on DOE’s priority goals in the contract. It will increase the external and internal scientific communities representation in the laboratory’s governance to increase the potential for innovation.

It will also reinvest up to 50 percent of its earned performance fee into the Ames Laboratory Director’s Discretionary Fund and provide other resources to the laboratory including joint appointments for selected faculty members.

During the press conference, Geoffroy gave credit to those involved with the Ames Laboratory.

“The success of the competition came because of the great work done in the laboratory by the people associated with the Ames Lab,” Geoffroy said.

“Staff members, faculty members: It is because of your good work over many, many years that I believe gave the Department of Energy confidence in Iowa State University to manage the laboratory.”

Iowa State has had a long-standing relationship with the federal government, and the Ames Lab was formally established in 1947.

The Ames Laboratory contract for the Department of Energy has been operated and managed by Iowa State since the lab was created.

The lab researches many areas of concern including high-speed computer design, energy resources and environmental cleanup.

Some of the lab’s research accomplishments include lead-free solder that is stronger and easier to use, a material that improves refrigerator efficiency and technology that can analyze multiple chemical samples simultaneously.

The lab employs a workforce of more than 440 full and part-time employees, with more than 250 of those being scientists and engineers.

“We look forward to the continued production of outstanding science at Ames Laboratory, capitalizing on the laboratory’s expertise in material sciences as well as high-performance computing and environmental science,” Schuneman said.