SURA

SURA is a non-profit consortium of research universities, founded in 1980, that organises collaborative Big Science and large-scale research on behalf of its members and the nation. The organisation supplies scientific staffing, administers grant and funding processes for member institutions, and negotiates critical infrastructure partnerships across a network of 57 member universities in the United States and Canada. Its technical work spans nuclear physics, nuclear femtography, space science and technology, and large-scale research infrastructure.

Central to SURA's work is its stewardship of Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), a Department of Energy national laboratory it has managed for 40 years and which hosts the world's largest community of nuclear physicists. SURA also manages the Center for Nuclear Femtography, the NIST PREP initiative associated with the NIST Professional Research Experience Program, and programmes in space science and technology. Scientific staffing resources and administrative support for funding and grant awards are provided directly to the member network.

The consortium brings together R1 and R2 research universities alongside minority-serving institutions, and works in partnership with federal agencies including the Department of Energy and NIST. SURA's stated orientation is towards long-term stewardship and partnership, as reflected in its four-decade relationship with the DOE, and towards strengthening both member institutions' capabilities and national scientific capability.