Dear Colleagues:

Citing the need to reallocate financial resources to higher priority activities, the Smithsonian Institution has decided to close the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education and to eliminate the positions of the center's employees.  Pending approval by the US Congress of the Smithsonian's budget request for FY 2002, this close-down is scheduled to take place by December 31, 2001.  Staff has been advised to pursue alternative employment opportunities.  Phase-out of ongoing programs will start immediately.

Since under these circumstances we cannot guarantee that staff will be available, beyond the most immediate future, to conduct the planned research and education activities, we must cancel a number of anticipated engagements, including training courses.  While we will honor existing contractual obligations, we will not be able to participate in any additional collaborative projects that may have been under discussion.  We alas will no longer entertain applications for fellowships or internships.

On behalf of the SCMRE staff, I want to express our sincere regrets for any inconvenience that this situation may cause.  We also want to thank all those colleagues with whom we have had the pleasure to work in the past, and especially those who have offered their support to the laboratory and staff in this difficult period.  We hope and trust that our paths will continue to cross in the future and that, under different circumstances, we will have an opportunity to work together with you again.

Lambertus van Zelst
Director, SCMRE

http://www.si.edu/scmre/ 

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