Core Universities
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Research and development (R&D) partnerships with other laboratories and with universities, industry, other government agencies, and international research institutions are carried out at ORNL through traditional collaborative arrangements and increasingly through the development and application of capabilities that facilitate collaboration among geographically separated researchers, or "science at a distance." These partnerships strengthen the nation's science base and are a key element in the UT-Battelle commitment to excellence in community service.

Although it is formally a national laboratory, ORNL has a strong role as an international laboratory, routinely hosting guest researchers and visitors from other nations. These kinds of partnerships facilitate access to facilities in other nations by U.S. scientists and encourage the globalization of science. In addition, guest scientists are a valuable component of ORNL's research staff. Their assignments, which range from two weeks to two years, broaden the Laboratory's base of expertise and support goals in scientific cooperation and technology transfer.

UT-Battelle has expanded the use of partnerships as a means for conducting collaborative R&D, facilitating access to ORNL's distinctive capabilities, improving the utilization of its scientific facilities, transferring technology to industry, and supporting the education of the next generation of scientists and engineers. UT-Battelle, itself a partnership, comprises several key resources for this expansion: University of Tennessee, a Carnegie Research Level I institution that attracts nearly $80 million annually for sponsored research programs; six "core universities," Duke University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Florida State University, North Carolina State University, Mississippi Technology Alliance, University of Virginia, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University [Virginia Tech]; Vanderbilt University and Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a consortium of 86 colleges and universities that manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and promotes collaborative partnerships for the benefit of its member institutions.
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These resources will be a key to the University Partnerships Initiative. Plans also include the following actions

• Extend collaborative relationships with other DOE laboratories and facilities, integrating the complementary capabilities distributed across the DOE complex in support of the Department's missions.
• Develop industry partnerships that bring the Laboratory's resources to bear on industrial problems and strengthen the economy by bringing new technologies to the marketplace.
• Build new educational, training, and research partnerships with other federal agencies; with educational consortia and museums, both regionally and nationally; and with private-sector institutions.