A medical research organization announced Tuesday that it would award Harvard a $1 million grant to improve undergraduate life-science education.

Harvard was one of 62 universities chosen by the Harvard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to split $86 million in grant money, the largest sum ever given by a private organization in U.S. history.

The grant, the second Harvard has received from HHMI, will be spread out over four years. $550,000 of the donation will go toward equipment and materials for undergraduate lab courses.

Judy Bronley, academic director in molecular and cellular biology, said a brand-new facility has long stood empty in the basement of the Biological Laboratories because funds for new equipment were not available.

The grant will allow the space to be converted to a much needed microscope lab for molecular biology and biochemistry classes.

"There's not even one pair of tweezers in this space, so we're thrilled with the grant, obviously," Bronley said.

According to a statement from HHMI, part of Harvard's responsibility as a recipient is to improve opportunities for student research in the life-sciences at area high schools.

Harvard will be setting up a microscopy lab and a summer institute for public school students in Boston, Bronley said.

The University also plans to award eight-week fellowships for area science teachers, renovate the labs at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School and offer research and science courses for high school teachers, she said.

"(HHMI) has offered us a wonderful opportunity both here at Harvard and in the community to increase the numbers of students exposed to science," Bronley said.

"This is an opportunity to tell students still at the basic level, 'Don't cross off science because you think you can't make it or don't have the money," she said.

According to Bronley, the new grant "builds nicely" on the $1.1 million grant Harvard received from HHMI in May 1992.

"The first grant gave money for curriculum development, specifically in neuroscience and genetics," Bronley said. "We will use the second grant to equip the new courses just developed."

Harvard used the 1992 grant to fund sophomores working in labs over the summer, establish the new neuroscience classes NCB117 and NCB116 and purchase silicon-graphic machines for Chem 20.

Bronley said undergraduates without much research experience often had difficulty securing summer jobs because the available funding was limited.

The HHMI grants have allowed undergraduates to conduct research without requiring scientists to provide their salaries.

Said Bronley: "If students say [to potential employers], 'I can pay my own way,' it significantly raises their chances [of getting a job].