It’s always good news when Congress takes big steps to help boost scientific research. And it’s even better when those steps lean on Michigan’s world-class research universities.

A groundbreaking nuclear science project at Michigan State University has passed a key milestone, receiving approval for project cost and a construction timeline from the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin announce.

On 1 August, the Department of Energy (DOE) approved the “baseline” cost and schedule for construction of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a straight-shot linear accelerator in the works at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

The U.S. Department of Energy has approved a timeline and cost for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, or FRIB, at MSU, a show of confidence in what the project ultimately will yield for the campus and the state of Michigan.

The U.S. Department of Energy has given a key approval for a massive physics research project at Michigan State University.

Federal officials have approved the cost and timeline for the half-billion-dollar Facility for Rare Isotope Beams project at Michigan State University.

The U.S. Department of Energy has given a key approval for a massive physics research project at Michigan State University that is expected to cement the school’s status as a premier center for nuclear science.

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University has received a critical approval from the U.S. Department of Energy, in effect cementing the department’s commitment to the project, and clearing the way for the start of civil construction.

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University will move forward.

Prospects continue to look bright for funding the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University after a U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee OK’d a $55 million funding request in the Fiscal Year 2014 budget

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $55 million for the next step in the development of a $550 million physics research project at Michigan State University.

There is some very good news for the FRIB Project at Michigan State University. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees each voted to spend $55 million on the next step in its development.

The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved legislation that fully funds President Obama's request for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University, which would allow for construction to begin in fiscal year 2014, Michigan senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin announced.

A Senate committee today approved a $55 million funding request that would allow construction to move ahead on the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University.

Michigan State University's half-billion-dollar Facility for Rare Isotope Beams has taken another step toward fruition.

The Senate Appropriations Committee today approved legislation that fully funds President Obama’s request for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University, which would allow for construction to begin in fiscal year 2014, Michigan Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow announced.

Back in the 1970s, Bay Cast Inc. built parts for the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at MSU, parts that accelerated beams carrying charged particles to velocities nearly half the speed of light. This past year that same Bay City-based company designed and built a piece of equipment for the next generation of equipment at MSU. Its job: To slow down the fast-moving beams.

MSU facts at a glance. Among the items: Ranked no. 1 in nuclear physics - ahead of M.I.T - by U.S. News & World Report.

Proposed federal funding of $55 million for development of Michigan State University’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams is most welcome.

The White House has made its biggest funding request yet for the development of a nuclear research facility at Michigan State University

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama submitted his Fiscal Year 2014 budget proposal allocating increased funds for higher education.

Faculty members at Michigan State University are at the forefront of national efforts to rethink education in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. I am excited to see science come to life on campus during the MSU Science Festival.

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams is still inching forward, although uncertainty over the federal budget must keep supporters of the Michigan State University-based project concerned.

The fate of one of MSU’s most paramount projects is on shaky ground as negotiations between the university and Washington grow increasingly nuclear.

A national advisory group on Tuesday backed a ranking of federal funding priorities that places a planned Michigan State University facility second out of three nuclear physics research centers if the government can no longer support all three.