42 U.S.C. § 16535 — Discovery science and engineering innovation institutes

(a) In general: The Secretary must establish distributed, multidisciplinary research centers ("Institutes"), centered at National Laboratories, to turn basic science and engineering discoveries into technological innovations relevant to: (1) the Department's missions; and (2) U.S. global competitiveness. (b) Topical areas: The Institutes must support scientific and engineering research and education on critical emerging technologies the Secretary determines are essential to global competitiveness, including: (1) sustainable energy technologies; (2) multiscale materials and processes; (3) micro- and nano-engineering; (4) computational and information engineering; and (5) genomics and proteomics. (c) Partnerships: The Secretary must build partnerships between the Institutes and: (1) colleges, to (A) train undergraduate and graduate science and engineering students, (B) develop innovative educational curricula, and (C) conduct research in the topics described in (b); and (2) private industry, to develop innovative technologies in those same topics. (d) Grants: (1) In general: Each fiscal year, the Secretary may select up to 3 Institutes to receive a grant. (2) Merit-based selection: Institutes must be chosen: (A) based on merit; and (B) through an open, competitive process. (3) Term: An Institute may receive a grant under this section for no more than 3 fiscal years. (e) Review: The Secretary must offer to work with the National Academy of Sciences so that, within 3 years after August 9, 2007, the Academy: (1) reviews how the Institutes are performing under this section; and (2) submits to Congress and the Secretary a report on the review. (f) Authorization of appropriations: Congress may provide $10,000,000 for each selected Institute, for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010.