GW received a $12.5 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Security Administration to establish a new center dedicated to studying high-pressure science and technology, according to a government release Monday.

Russell Hemley, a research professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, will lead the new Capital and Department of Energy Alliance Center to research nuclear materials and technology over five years.

“Dr. Hemley’s students seek to enhance understanding of a broad range of materials in extreme pressure-temperature regimes and to integrate and coordinate static compression, dynamic compression, and theoretical studies of materials,” the release states.

Three other institutions – the University of Michigan, the University of California San Diego and Texas A&M University – were also awarded grants ranging from $5 million to $12.5 million, according to the release. The grants, which are part of the Stewardship Science Academic Alliances Program, allow the centers to “enrich” graduate education and improve nuclear stockpile science, the release states.

“These cooperative agreements strengthen the nuclear security enterprise by advancing areas of science relevant to the stockpile stewardship mission and ensuring a pipeline of future scientists to carry out that mission,” Kathleen Alexander, the assistant deputy administrator for research, development, test and evaluation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, said in the release.