Editorial

Fruitful Research Collaboration Follows Common Guidelines

The Nuclear Materials Technology (NMT) Division has a wide range of research collaborations with universities, national laboratories, industrial companies, and several international organizations. The division presently carries out active research collaborations with about three dozen external entities. The nature of these collaborations ranges from individual-researcher-initiated research projects with external collaborators to institutionally backed projects. If one includes the co-authorship in research papers published in scientific journals, this number becomes even larger.

University collaborations typically take the form of conducting joint research on campuses or at Los Alamos with students participating as part of their academic degree programs. These collaborations can be particularly helpful for students as they make the transition from their formal training to career-oriented research. NMT provides a unique environment where nuclear materials can be handled safely for those interested in nuclear materials research. The nation's universities typically lack resources in this area because of the specialized facilities involved and the safety and oversight requirements that must be met.

International collaborations are being developed in many research areas aimed at reducing the global nuclear danger-safeguarding nuclear materials through detection and instrumentation, safe storage and disposition of fissile materials, development of waste treatment technologies, etc. Industrial partnerships have been forged through CRADAs (cooperative research and development agreements) for a number of new or advanced process engineering projects.

The goals of these collaborations vary widely. However, one common objective among all these collaborations is to enrich and to advance the science and technology in the specific areas of each collaboration. In some cases, we are also able to recruit unique scientific resources and talents through our university interactions. Traditionally, these interactions with universities have provided a significant portion of the human resources needed for the research and programmatic activities carried out in the national laboratories. These are, therefore, the key elements to our future progress.

NMT Division, as a science and technology organization, has generally encouraged all forms of individual and institutional collaborations, internal and external, within the bounds of our institutional mission. The success of these external collaborations has been outstanding. That said, any collaboration should meet some of the basic premises of research collaboration in NMT Division and, on the larger scale, in the Laboratory. Some of these premises are stated in the following:

1. The area of the collaboration has to be defined by the collaborators. The research areas within NMT Division are very broad, and these are documented in division science and technology strategic plans. The division strives to maintain four core technical capabilities: plutonium metallurgy, actinide process chemistry, actinide materials science including actinide ceramics, and nuclear facility operation. In each of these core capabilities, there may be specific capabilities needed to enhance science and technology activities. When a collaborative work is proposed, it is therefore desirable and necessary to conduct a relevance check of the proposed work against the division's core capabilities.

2. Technical merits of the proposed work should be evaluated and reviewed by competent independent reviewers. As we strive to achieve excellence in our research work, this is perhaps one of the most important criteria. If the proposed work has some outstanding technical merits or potential payoffs, there may be alternative ways of supporting such work in this Laboratory besides the Division. We do not wish to miss out on the opportunities. The Laboratory Directed Research and Development program is just such a mechanism.

3. The scope of the collaboration has to be defined and agreed upon. Once the proposed work is realistically sized, there have to be sufficient resources in terms of budget, personnel, and facility. Additionally, one has to consider the right mix of talents, steady funding sources to carry the work to conclusion, and a suite of required research equipment.

4. The need for the collaboration has to be justifiable with relatively high priority. In the real world of limited science and technology budgets, we have to prioritize our work so that we get maximum benefits for the dollars spent. We recognize that not all scientific endeavors lead to immediately useful results or applications. With limited resources, however, it is essential to prioritize our tasks and to plan within the agreed upon scope for long-term stability of our research activities.

5. Finally, it is important to recognize that NMT Division is not a funding organization for a variety of internal and external collaborations. Unlike government or private grant awarding organizations, the Laboratory's operating funds are allocated for specific missions. It is safe to say that all funds in this Laboratory are associated with our mission-oriented programs, small and large, and resource allocation is performed by the program offices throughout the Laboratory. This means that the program offices should be made to see the benefits of the proposed collaborations and to support the work as an essential part of the program planning and execution. There is no excess in today's Laboratory operating budget, and we must use our resources sparingly.

Aside from the formalized collaborations described above, there are examples of numerous informal collaborations in the scientific community. Collaboration has become nearly synonymous with any scientific work in today's world, and it is expected to be more so in the future. It's a necessity as well as a driving force for scientific progress.

Kyu C. Kim is the Chief Scientist for NMT Division.

The opinions in this editorial are mine; they do not necessarily represent the opinions of Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of California, the Department of Energy, or the U.S. Government.

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