In advancement of that goal, the member institutions have submitted joint large infrastructure grants and launched a seed-grant program for joint multi-institutional research projects. The center will also be open for use by other universities and both not-for-profit and for-profit research organizations through partnerships with member institutions and leasing of space.

The developers also hope the center will establish a presence in the community. Holyoke is currently one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts, with a poverty rate nearly three times that of the state average. The founding universities are collaborating with Holyoke Community College, Springfield Technical Community College, K-12 Holyoke schools and other community-based organizations to implement educational and outreach activities such as workshops and research symposia.

“We really want to expose the technologies that we’re doing and use it as part of a more global educational mission,” Cuff said.

Construction of the first 10 megawatt phase of the center is expected to be completed by 2013. Subsequent phases will increase the space and power capabilities of the center as well as the nature of the research. In the meantime, developers hope to intensify discussions with the research faculty and larger academic community and develop a common operating model to take advantage of the diverse needs and strengths of partner institutions.

“In the end, this is a tool that is administered by the administration but it’s a tool used by the faculty,” Ruckenstein said. “It’s their tool.”

—Staff writer Akua F. Abu can be reached at aabu@college.harvard.edu.