UC Santa Barbara’s materials researchers have received a $20 million grant to carry on their studies until at least 2017.

The money came from the National Science Foundation. UCSB houses one of the foundation’s Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers and has received support since 1992.

“Competition for these flagship centers is fierce,” Craig Hawker, director of the Materials Research Laboratory at UCSB, said in a news release. “What sets materials research at UCSB apart is the emphasis on a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research environment.”

In 2009, UCSB’s Institute for Energy Efficiency received a $19 million grant for five years of research from the U.S. Department of Energy. Despite flagging support from the state government, the school broke its previous record for research funding by raising $222 million from federal and state agencies, corporations, and nonprofits during fiscal 2010.