Collaboration Opportunities in Sensor Science Division

The Sensor Science Division (SSD) collaborates with industry, government, and academia to advance measurement science and standards of mutual importance. We have formal and informal mechanisms for undertaking such collaborations., some of which can accommodate legal issues such as intellectual property (IP) generation and protection. Some of these mechanisms are discussed below.

Guest Scientist in SSD

To support partnerships with other institutions, SSD hosts scientists and engineers from industry, universities and other government institutions worldwide. The duration of their stay at NIST can vary from several months to years. Opportunities vary from year to year, but appointments and visits are established to advance specific SSD research and measurement service delivery objectives. The best way to learn about current opportunities is to contact appropriate project and program leaders and visit the NIST Research Associate Programs.

Scientific Collaboration

The SSD encourages informal collaborations with other scientific institutions, carried out between individual scientists or small teams, that support SSD priorities and advance common research objectives. These collaborative efforts focus on precompetitive scientific challenges with fully publishable results.

Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA)

A CRADA is a formal legal agreement to cooperate on research with predefined objectives. Within the NIST CRADA program, researchers from SSD and an external institution work together to address a specific measurement or standards challenge. The CRADA mechanism can protect the intellectual property rights of both NIST and its partner(s). To learn more about CRADAs with NIST, visit the NIST Technology Partnerships Office.

Unique Facility

The Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility (SURF III) operated by the Optical Radiation Group offers a suite of synchrotron-based spectroscopy measurement capabilities from the far infrared to the soft x-ray. This facility is available for use by U.S. organizations for both collaborative proprietary research under a CRADA and non-proprietary research.