The plan proposed a federal-state partnership serving magnet-related research, science and technology education, and partnering industry.

On September 5, 1990, MIT researchers asked the 21 members of the National Science Board (NSB) to "review and reconsider" its decision.

The Tallahassee complex was dedicated on October 1, 1994, to a large crowd, with keynote speaker Vice President Al Gore.

[7][8] The lab's mission, as set forth by the NSF, is: "To provide the highest magnetic fields and necessary services for scientific research conducted by users from a wide range of disciplines, including physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, biology and geology."

In an interview on Skepticality, Dr. Scott Hannahs said, "If you come by on the third Saturday in February I believe we have an open house and we have Tesla coils shooting sparks and we melt rocks in the geochemistry group and we measure the speed of sound and we have lasers and potato launchers and we just have all sorts of things showing little scientific principles and stuff.

"[10] The Tallahassee laboratory at Florida State University is a 370,000 sq ft (34,000 m2) complex and has approximately 300 faculty, staff, graduate, and postdoctoral students.

[14] This program serves a broad user base in solution and solid state NMR spectroscopy and MRI and diffusion measurements at high magnetic field strengths.

The lab develops technology, methodology, and applications at high magnetic fields through both in-house and external user activities.

Under the leadership of director Alan G. Marshall, the program continuously develops techniques and instruments and applications of FT-ICR mass spectrometry.

The ASC pursues the superconductors for magnets for fusion, high energy physics, MRI, and electric power transmission lines and transformers.

The research interests range from the chemical evolution of Earth and Solar System through time to local scale problems on the sources and transport of environmentally significant substances.

The studies conducted by the geochemistry division concern terrestrial and extraterrestrial questions and involve land-based and seagoing expeditions and spacecraft missions.

The 1200-ton motor generator sits on a 4800-short ton (4350 t) inertia block which rests on 60 springs to minimize earth tremors and is the centerpiece of the Pulsed Field Laboratory.

[16] The research group leads the world in collective studies of quantum fluids and solids in terms of breadth and low temperature techniques (thermometry, NMR, ultrasound, heat capacity, sample cooling.)