| Southeastern Universities Research Association | |
| Type: | Nonprofit organization |
| Headquarters: | 1201 New York Ave. NW, Suite 430, Washington, D.C. 20005 |
| Location: | United States, Canada |
| Membership: | 57 |
| Leader Title: | President & CEO |
| Leader Name: | Sean Hearne |
The Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc. (SURA) is a non-profit association with member universities from the United States and Canada.[1] SURA is focused on advancing science, research, and educational discovery.
SURA is the parent company of Jefferson Science Associates, LLC (JSA), which is the Management and Operations (M&O) contractor for Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia.[2] In addition to Jefferson Lab, SURA supports space science & technology, information technology, and coastal and environmental research.
SURA was founded in May 1980 at a meeting at The College of William & Mary, in which a group of research physicists from various universities recognized the opportunity to create a consortium to promote the expansion of nuclear physics in southeastern United States. Harry Holmgren, of the University of Maryland, was the first elected president of SURA, with Jim McCarthy of the University of Virginia as the Vice President. SURA was initially formed in response to the science community’s desire to build an electron macerator to explore the role of quarks in nuclear structure. This CEBAF is now known as the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab).[3]
As a consortium of 57 advanced research institutions, SURA collaborates with its members to bring expertise to support the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of Defense in addition to other federal and commercial industry research and development programs. [4]
SURA currently collaborates with NASA on the (CRESST II) program and the Goddard Earth Science Technology and Research (GESTAR II) program. [5]
See main article: SURAnet. The goal of SURA was the development of a particle accelerator for research in nuclear physics; this facility is now known as the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. By the mid-1980s it was clear that access to high-capacity computer resources would be needed to facilitate collaboration among the SURA member institutions. A high-performance network to provide this access was essential, but no single institution could afford to develop such a system. SURA itself stepped up to the challenge and, with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and SURA universities, “SURAnet” was up and running in 1987, and was part of the first phase of National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) funding as the agency built a network to facilitate scientific collaboration.[6]
Member Institutions:[7]