U.S. Department of Energy Awards Contract for Management and Operation of Ames Laboratory to Iowa State University

WASHINGTON, DC –The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a new $150 million, five-year contract for management and operation of Ames Laboratory to Iowa State University (ISU).
Under the new agreement, ISU has committed to:

• Restructuring and clarifying management roles and responsibilities to focus attention on DOE’s priority goals in this contract;
• Increasing the external and internal scientific community’s representation in the laboratory’s governance to increase the potential for innovation;
• Reinvesting up to 50 percent of its earned performance fee into the Ames Laboratory Director’s discretionary fund; and
• Providing other resources to the laboratory, specifically software and equipment upgrades, and providing for joint appointments for selected faculty members.

DOE issued a Request for Proposals on June 29, 2006, seeking a contractor to manage and operate the Ames Laboratory. The new award term contract contains a number of innovative provisions intended to provide incentives for superior performance. The department may recognize superior performance through phased extensions of the contract for up to a total of 20 years, if the contractor meets specific performance levels established by DOE.

The initial contract term will be January 1, 2007, to December 31 , 2011. During the initial five-year term of the contract and the first five years of any award term extensions, ISU could earn an annual fee of up to $835,000 for superior performance. The amount of the available potential fee would be negotiated for additional extensions up to the maximum possible 20 years.

At the forefront of current materials research, high-performance computing, and environmental science and management efforts, Ames Laboratory seeks solutions to energy-related problems through the exploration of physics, chemistry, engineering, applied mathematics and materials sciences.