Funds from this grant provide operational support for the launch of the New York Genome Center, a pioneering New York City-based research facility that will conduct both its own genomic research as well as provide genetic sequencing, analysis, and other services to research institutions in the New York metropolitan area. A model in collaborative research, the center will allow participating institutions to have access to first class genomic analysis capabilities without having to buy and maintain their own equipment, rent lab space, and retain expensive staff. Eleven of the City's most prominent research institutions have signed on to the effort, including Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; Columbia, Cornell, and NYU; and Memorial Sloan Kettering, New York Presbyterian, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine among others. The development of a major new research center promises to catapult New York into the center of the dynamic and rapidly growing field of genomics.

This grant provides three years of support for the continued operation of the Sloan Public Service Awards. Administered by the Fund for the City of New York since 1973 and supported by the Sloan Foundation since 1985, these annual awards honor exceptional civil servants working in New York City municipal government. Each of the six yearly winners receive a $10,000 award and is honored both in a ceremony at his or her workplace and in a city-wide celebration presided over by the Mayor. Grant funds will support the administrative costs of the program for three years, including the selection process, nominee vetting, press outreach, event planning, and award monies.

Funds from this grant support two programs at the City University of New York aimed at supporting faculty and students in STEM disciplines. The first, CUNY's Summer Research Program, provides interested undergraduates with the opportunity to engage in hands-on, in-the-lab science, assisting CUNY science faculty with ongoing research projects during the summer. Grant funds will support 10 students in each of 2012, 2013, and 2014, providing a housing allowance and a living stipend. The second supported program under this grant is CUNY's Junior Faculty Fellowship Program, which aims to support promising early-career STEM faculty at CUNY by providing a $50,000 fellowship for use in research. Over the course of the next three years, eight faculty will receive fellowships through this grant.