A national battery development centre will open this summer in Kentucky. The centre is expected to create at least 20 research positions and employ 20 postgraduate students, requiring expertise in chemistry and chemical and mechanical engineering. Formed by a partnership between Kentucky's state government, the University of Kentucky in Lexington, the University of Louisville, Kentucky, and Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, the centre aims to develop advanced battery technologies. The initial focus will be on lithium-ion batteries, but future research will look into lithium-air and zinc-air batteries, which could be used both in vehicles and to store power from the electrical grid, says Mark Peters, deputy associate laboratory director for energy sciences and engineering at Argonne National Laboratory. The centre will have an initial annual budget of US$7 million.