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National Laboratories

The Boulder area is home to four U.S. national laboratories:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration () - environmental research
• National Institute of Standards and Technology () -Ìýatomic clocks and precision optical metrology
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory () -Ìýrenewable energy
• National Center for Atmospheric Research ()

All have close ties with the University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥, and three have joint research centers that include optics as a significant research activity:

• Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental SciencesÌý()
• - Research in the Physical Sciences
• Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute ()

The University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ also has substantial collaborative efforts with , an hour flight away. Prestigious Sandia fellowships support the research of top graduate students.

Photonics Industry and Innovation in ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥

ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ is home to more than 300 photonics companies, mostly in the Boulder area, including Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, IBM and many University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ startup companies.ÌýThe active commercial photonics sector is connected to academia and the national laboratories through the (CPIA).

Nobel Prizes in Optical Sciences

The University of ÃÛÌÇÖ±²¥ Boulder and JILA institute are the proud home of four recent Nobel Prize winners for optics-related research: Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman (2001), John L. Hall (2005)Ìýand David Wineland (2012).