DURHAM — Two National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grants to the University of New Hampshire totaling $1.35 million will allow researchers to purchase two powerful new pieces of scientific equipment.

A new DNA sequencer will help researchers answer questions about emerging diseases, consequences of environmental change, including global warming and land development, conservation of threatened species, cleanup of oil spills and agricultural practices.

UNH received $815,000 for the Illumina HiSeq 2000 DNA sequencer, the largest Major Research Instrumentation grant the university has ever received.

Currently, UNH faculty must use instruments at labs across the country, where internal users usually have priority and turnaround time for UNH faculty typically has been four to nine months.

UNH also received a $535,000 grant for a new computer cluster that will be used in multiple disciplines, including physics, engineering and math. It will be used to help researchers better understand turbulence, fluid flows, magnetic reconnection, and space weather.

The new computer cluster, which will be used by about a dozen faculty members along with 20-30 graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and other researchers, will replace one installed in 2005.

“This is cutting-edge equipment,” UNH senior vice provost for research, Jan Nisbet, said. “A genome sequencer and a supercomputer will allow us to conduct nationally and internationally relevant, high-impact research.”

The grants will facilitate research in UNH’s Hubbard Center for Genome Studies and the Space Science Center in the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, as well as other departments and centers.

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