Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Standard Reference Materials

News and Updates

Keyword

Topic Area

NIST Collaborates With EPA to Develop a Standard to Improve Fecal Pollution Measurements in Recreational Waters

April 6, 2022

As we approach summer beach season, you may occasionally encounter a "keep out" sign indicating that the area is temporarily closed. If fecal pollution is

Suite of NIST Reference Materials Reflects Supply Chain and Production Stages of Ginseng Supplements

January 25, 2022

Three NIST reference materials of ginseng in different forms support ginseng supplement manufacturers’ analysis of the authenticity and purity of their products

NIST Standard Reference Material Supports Clinical Tests for Common Chronic Diseases

December 20, 2021

NIST has developed its first reference material to aid in the measurement of free fatty acids in human blood serum. Most adults who routinely monitor their

A researcher stands on a boat reaching for a cable holding a grabber device.

NIST Releases Great Lakes Sediment Material for Measuring Organic Pollutants

November 23, 2021

People who live near the Great Lakes might go there to enjoy a swim or a boat ride. But if you’re visiting from the National Institute of Standards and

Yellowish blades of kelp are growing under the surface of the water.

Spotlight: Harvesting What's Under the Sea for the Dietary Supplement Industry and Environmental Conservation

November 16, 2021

From domestic sludge to hydrogen in titanium, we have many different types of standard reference materials (SRMs) to ensure that industry, academia and

New NIST Reference Material Helps Manufacturers Better Assess Their Biological Drug Products

November 15, 2021

Sugars not only provide nourishment in the food you eat but can also act as biomarkers for detecting disease. When certain types of simple sugars, such as

NIST pH Standard Reference Material Supports One of Manufacturing’s Most Measured Properties

October 19, 2021

NIST has released a pH reference material in a uniquely stable form for calibrating the instruments used by a wide variety of manufacturers. pH is one of the

NIST Reference Material for Hydrogen in Titanium Now in Pin Form

August 16, 2021

Hydrogen in titanium and other metal alloys can cause embrittlement, leading to fractures in manufactured parts. A popular NIST reference material for

Two New Reference Materials Assist Supplement Makers with Measurements of Isoflavones in Kudzu

August 3, 2021

Kudzu, a member of the pea family native to East Asia and considered an invasive weed in the American South, has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine and

Gold-colored rectangle has circles and screws of various sizes.

Spotlight: One Small Step for SRM 610 Aboard the Mars Perseverance Rover

July 20, 2021

3, 2, 1 … blast off! One of NIST’s very own standard reference materials traveled through space and landed on the Red Planet in February as part of the National

An Aid for Instrumentation for Measuring Active Compounds in Ginseng

July 12, 2021

Ginsenosides are thought to be the active compounds in ginseng, a plant long used in Chinese medicine that is now a popular supplement and the subject of

New NIST Reference Material Aids in Measurement of Cocoa's Active Molecules

July 1, 2021

Cocoa, the substance from which chocolate is made, is thought to have benefits to the human cardiovascular system and so has been the focus of many clinical

Two New NIST Reference Materials for Assuring Measurements of Nutrients in Formula

June 30, 2021

To help ensure that babies and patients get all the essential amino acids and other nutrients that they need, infant and prescription adult nutritional formulas

A New Control for Measuring Active Compounds and Contaminants in Ginger Root

June 30, 2021

A new NIST reference material for ginger, a popular remedy for nausea, provides values for arsenic, mercury, and lead, helping manufacturers ensure that their

First-Ever Reference Material for Measuring Conversion of Heat to Electrical Energy at High Temps

May 27, 2021

Standard Reference Material (SRM) 3452 enables, for the first time, instrument validation and interlaboratory data comparison to support the research

A picture of vials of SRM 1992 and SRM 1993

NIST Collaboration Yields First Certified Reference Materials for Zeta Potential

January 19, 2021

Two new Standard Reference Materials from the National Institute of Standards and Technology give researchers and manufacturers a way to check the performance

An illustration of a small particle is placed next to an illustration of polystyrene spheres.

Want to Avoid Problems in Powerful New Drugs? Ask a Roofer.

February 28, 2019

Understanding how proteins clump together is essential in modern pharmaceuticals. When these tiny particles aggregate, they can alter the effectiveness of both

Winning Numbers

May 29, 2018

NIST Standard Reference Materials® help people in industry, academia, and government agencies have confidence in their measurements, which is essential to every

Illustration of 5 roundish objects of purple and blue arranged in a circle

NIST Standard Story: Matters of the Heart

September 20, 2017

NIST scientists have thoroughly measured and characterized more than 1,300 physical products, NIST Standard Reference Materials ®, to help people in industry

New NIST Tool Aims to Improve Accuracy of Test to Determine Cardiovascular Disease Risk

September 19, 2017

Cardiovascular disease caused one out of three deaths in the United States in 2016, and for decades it has been the leading killer for both men and women

NIST Standard Story: No Humans Were Harmed

February 15, 2017

NIST scientists have thoroughly measured and characterized more than 1,300 physical products, NIST Standard Reference Materials ®, to help people in industry

NIST Standard Story: A Fish Story

November 18, 2016

NIST scientists have thoroughly measured and characterized more than 1,300 physical products, NIST Standard Reference Materials ®, to help people in industry

This electron micrograph shows an oral squamous cancer cell being attacked by two cytotoxic T cells.

NIST Releases New 'Family' of Standardized Genomes

September 16, 2016

GAITHERSBURG, Md.—With the addition of four new reference materials (RMs) to a growing collection of “measuring sticks” for gene sequencing, the National

NIST research chemist Jeanita Pritchett extracts nicotine and tobacco-specific compounds from a candidate Standard Reference Material (SRM)

New NIST Reference Material Helps Assure Accurate Measurement of Constituents in Tobacco Products

September 12, 2016

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a reference material with certified amounts of nicotine and two carcinogens to help ensure

Three-dimensional culture of human breast cancer cells, with DNA stained blue and a protein in the cell surface membrane stained green.

NIST and Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Help Ensure Accurate Clinical Measurements of HER2 Breast Cancer Gene

August 17, 2016

A new measurement standard developed by the National Institute of Standards of Technology (NIST) has been used successfully by the Frederick National Laboratory

Advanced communications
-Open Radio Access Network (Open-RAN)
-Quantum communications
-Spectrum sharing
-Wireless (RF)
Bioscience
-Bioimaging
-Bioinformatics
-Biomanufacturing
-Biomaterials
-Cell biology
-Cell-free systems
-Engineering / synthetic biology
-Gene delivery systems
-Genome editing
-Genomics
-Glycomics
-Metabolomics
-Microbial measurements
-Proteomics
-Sequence screening
-Transcriptomics
Buildings and Construction
-Building codes and standards
-Building control systems
-Building damage and repair
-Building economics
-Building materials
-Energy efficiency
-Heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment
-Indoor air quality
-Structural engineering
-Thermal comfort
Chemistry
-Analytical chemistry
-Chemical engineering and processing
-Chemical thermodynamics and chemical properties
-Molecular characterization
-Theoretical chemistry and modeling
-Thermochemical properties
Electronics
-Electromagnetics
-Flexible electronics
-Magnetoelectronics
-Optoelectronics
-Organic electronics
-Semiconductors
-Sensors
-Superconducting electronics
Energy
-Alternative energy
-Conventional energy
-Electric power / smart grid
-Fuels
Environment
-Air / water / soil quality
-Climate Measurements
-Environmental health
-Greenhouse gas measurements
-Marine science
-Sustainability
Fire
-Emergency building evacuation
-Fire detection
-Fire dynamics and science
-Fire fighting
-Fire modeling
-Fire risk reduction
-Materials flammability
-Structural fire resistance
-Wildland urban interface fire
Forensic Science
-Digital evidence
-Drugs and toxicology
-Firearms and toolmarks
-Forensic biometrics
-Forensic genetics
-Trace evidence
Health
-Biopharmaceuticals
-Cell and gene therapy
-Clinical diagnostics
-Dentistry
-Food and nutrition
-Human microbiome
-Medical imaging
-Precision medicine
-Regenerative medicine and advanced therapy
Information technology
-Artificial intelligence
--AI measurement and evaluation
--Applied AI
--Fundamental AI
--Hardware for AI
--Machine learning
--Trustworthy and responsible AI
-Biometrics
-Cloud computing and virtualization
-Complex systems
-Computational science
-Conformance testing
-Cyber-physical systems
--Smart cities
-Cybersecurity
--Cryptography
--Cybersecurity education and workforce development
--Cybersecurity measurement
--Identity and access management
--Privacy engineering
--Risk management
--Securing emerging technologies
--Trustworthy networks
--Trustworthy platforms
-Data and informatics
--Human language technology
--Information retrieval
--Natural language processing
-Federal information processing standards (FIPS)
-Health IT
-Internet of Things (IoT)
-Interoperability testing
-Location based services
-Mobile
-Networking
--Mobile and wireless networking
--Network management and monitoring
--Network modeling and analysis
--Network security and robustness
--Network test and measurement
--Next generation networks
--Protocol design and standardization
--Software defined and virtual networks
-Privacy
-Software research
--Software testing
-Usability and human factors
--Accessibility
-Video analytics
-Virtual / augmented reality
-Visualization research
-Voting systems
Infrastructure
Manufacturing
-Additive manufacturing
-Factory communications
-Factory operations planning and control
-Interoperability in manufacturing
-Machining
-Manufacturing economics
-Manufacturing quality assurance
-Manufacturing systems design and analysis
-Monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics
-Process improvement
-Process measurement and control
-Product data
-Robotics in manufacturing
--Agility and adaptability
--Collaborative robots
--Dexterous grasping
--Manipulation
--Mobility and industrial autonomous vehicles
--Navigation / actuation / control
--Sensing and perception
-Supply chain
-Sustainable manufacturing
-Systems engineering
-Systems integration
-Technology commercialization
Materials
-Ceramics
-Composites
-Concrete / cement
-Materials characterization
--Composition and structure
--Mechanical properties
--Thermal properties
-Metals
-Modeling and computational material science
-Polymers
-Superconductors
Mathematics and statistics
-Experiment design
-Image and signal processing
-Modeling and simulation research
-Numerical methods and software
-Statistical analysis
-Uncertainty quantification
Metrology
-Amount of substance
-Dimensional metrology
-Electrical / electromagnetic metrology
-Flow metrology and rheology
-Force metrology
-Humidity metrology
-Ionizing radiation metrology
-Mass metrology
-Metric
-Optical / photometry / laser metrology
-Pressure and vacuum metrology
-Thermometry metrology
-Time and frequency metrology
-Weights and measures
Nanotechnology
-Nanobiotechnology
-Nanochemistry
-Nanoelectronics
-Nanofabrication / manufacturing
--Lithography
--Self-assembly
-Nanofluidics
-Nanomagnetics
-Nanomaterials
-Nanomechanics
-Nanometrology
-Nanophotonics
-Nanophysics
-Nanoplasmonics
Neutron research
Performance excellence
-Assessment tools and services
-Baldrige award
-Baldrige examiners
-Baldrige Framework and Criteria
-Best practices
-Leadership development
Physics
-Atomic / molecular / quantum
-Biological physics
-Condensed matter
-Electron physics
-Magnetics
-Nuclear physics
-Optical physics and communications
-Quantum information science
-Radiation
-Spectroscopy
-Thermodynamics
-Time and frequency
Public safety
-Chemical / Biological / Radiological / Nuclear / Explosives (CBRNE)
-First responder preparedness
-Law enforcement
-Public safety communications research
-Response robots
Resilience
-Community resilience
-Disaster and failure studies
-Earthquake risk reduction
-Resilience economics
-Resilient materials
-Windstorm impact reduction
Standards
-Accreditation
-Calibration services
-Conformity assessment
-Documentary standards
-Frameworks
-Quality assurance
-Reference data
-Reference instruments
-Reference materials
-Standards education
Technology transfer
Transportation
-Aerospace
-Automotive