Boulder is home to a number of federally funded research facilities. Several of these labs are world leaders in climate, weather, geo-physical and renewable energy research. Others have a strong presence in measurements and standards, telecommunications science, and viral and bacterial diseases.
Many of the labs make their testing equipment available to businesses and offer cooperative research agreements. CO-LABS can connect businesses with the right person at the right lab.
CO-LABS is a coalition of federally funded scientific laboratories, universities, businesses, local governments, and legislators who have come together to establish Colorado as a global leader in research, technology, and technology transfer. CO-LABS educates the public, businesses, educational organizations and governmental entities about the value of the federally funded laboratories, creates connections between these sectors, and supports retention and expansion of Colorado’s scientific resources.
Federally funded labs in Boulder include:
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)
- Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)
- Institute for Telecommunications Sciences (ITS) of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR)
- JILA
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP)
- National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
- National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
- National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS)
- National Geophysical Data Center (DGDC)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC)
- National Weather Service (NWS)
- Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)
- University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
Nearby federally funded labs include:
- Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture (Fort Collins, Colorado)
- Bureau of Reclamation, US Department of the Interior (Denver, Colorado)
- CDC, Division of Vector Borne Infectious Diseases (DVBID) (Fort Collins, Colorado)
- Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) (Fort Collins, Colorado)
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (Golden, Colorado)
- Rocky Mountain Research Station, US Forest Service (RMRS) (Fort Collins, Colorado)
- Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) (Pueblo, Colorado)
- US Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
- US Geological Survey (USGS) (Denver, Colorado)
- National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) (Fort Collins, Colorado)