Vicki Chandler

More Photos (2):

Related articles:

UA lands $50M federal grant to help unlock plant secrets

Other articles by Dan Sorenson:

Bad-times optimists: Tucsonans are opening business despite the economyOptimistic Sundt still busy, to build new Tucson officeSundt Construction plans new Tucson office on NW sideJobless insurance checks lag hereBeaudry RV Co. files for Chapter 11Midtown Tucson shop sells China's finest, which isn't always easy to findBeware of liquidation salesCaution key for Tucson shoppers going in to going-out-of-business salesEEOC: University of Phoenix engaged in discriminationUnion workers at Qwest OK 4-year contract

Health Care
Rio Salado College
PA's/Online Instructors General
CORT
Warehouse Supervisor Construction
Komatsu Equipment Co
Mechanic General
CORT
WAREHOUSE/DRIVER Education
Assessment Technology, Inc
Social Studies Content Writer

The University of Arizona's BIO5 Institute landed a five-year, $50 million federal grant to design, build and run what is to be the world's most powerful tool for cracking plant biology's biggest questions.

The National Science Foundation grant for the iPlant Collaborative, said to be the largest such grant in Arizona history, will create 15 to 30 jobs in the early going, according to BIO5 director Vicki Chandler, a UA regents' professor and a co-lead scientist on the project, the first national such facility. And it could be extended by years and another $50 million.

Based on a 2006 foundation request for proposals, iPlant will be a powerful and adaptable "cyberinfrastructure" with a host of programmers and other computer scientists who will tailor the system to solve a succession of "grand challenge" biology problems posed by scientists from around the world.

Although not limited to studying climate change, Chandler said iPlant's interdisciplinary approach and massive computing power would be well-suited to understanding the complex nature of plant, climate and ecosystem interaction.

She said one aspect of iPlant could be compared to Google Earth map software in its ability to zoom in to a single plant's cellular level and out to the atmosphere surrounding the plant and the greater ecosystem beyond, providing detailed information about every measurable aspect at each level.

The grant is a reward for the state's investment in BIO5 and higher education, said Gov. Janet Napolitano, announcing the award at her weekly Phoenix press conference Wednesday morning.

Richard Jorgensen, a UA and BIO5 professor of plant science and the project's lead scientist, was there for the announcement with Leslie Tolbert, UA vice president for research.

Chandler made her comments at a simultaneous press conference at BIO5's Keating Building headquarters, 1657 E. Helen St., on the UA's campus north of Speedway near North Campbell Avenue. IPlant will be headquartered on Keating's fourth floor.

BIO5's interdisciplinary approach "allowed us to be competitive, to win this grant," said Tolbert. She said BIO5 and the iPlant Collaborative will "be a model for the way science gets done in the future."

UA will have several partner institutions in iPlant, but will get approximately 79 percent of the money, $39.5 million, according to a National Science Foundation breakdown. New York's Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory will get 16 percent, Arizona State University 4 percent and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Purdue University will split 1 percent of the money.

Chandler wouldn't reveal the name of the other finalist, but said UA was in competition with top-tier, "Research One" universities.

Most of those hired in the first year will be computer scientists, Chandler said. But she said there will be more jobs later, including positions outside the immediate biological and computer science mission. The grant requires educational outreach and public accessibility. Chandler said there will be jobs related to K-12, graduate and undergraduate education, as well as program administrators and support staff.

She said the project should also create an atmosphere attractive to businesses doing work in related fields.

"We're going to be doing revolutionary, cutting-edge research that's driving research across the world. That ought to be a pretty exciting thing to position your company near to. I think that is really going to help promote this region as a region that can do high technology," Chandler said.

BIO5, an interdisciplinary biotechnology center not even five years old, brings together scientists from a number of disciplines — agriculture, medicine, pharmacy, basic science and engineering — to work on research.

"This will enable the plant-science community to solve problems they can't solve with the present facilities," said Gregory Andrews, a co-lead investigator, UA professor of computer science and interim head of the computer science department.

But he said the UA's contribution to iPlant is not primarily about computer hardware, though large-scale storage, computing power, networks and some special equipment — possibly including virtual reality — will be needed. However, the fundamental strength will be custom software that will allow scientists to put together massive files of information they can't now relate to one another.

"The science will be done all over the country, if not all over the world," Andrews said.

IPlant, although headquartered in Tucson, is to be a global operation with an open approach "so that any research team from any consortium of institutions or disciplines can propose a grand-challenge question," Andrews said.

The first meeting of the group to consider such questions is set for April.

Chandler said UA students working on iPlant "will be some of the most sought-after people in the world for jobs.

"I wish I was 19 (so) I could be a student on this project. This is going to be an international point of pride for Arizona," Chandler said.