NASA/Ames Research Center in Mountain View announced Tuesday it has picked the University of California for a competitive $330 million, 10-year contract that will enable the space agency to harness some of the top scientific minds in the UC system.

The contract taps UC-Santa Cruz to manage the development of a University Affiliated Research Center. The center's work will focus on interdisciplinary research in astrobiology and in informational technology and its fusion with nanotechnology and biotechnology.

UC-Santa Cruz Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood said she believes it is the largest competitively bid contract ever awarded in the 10-campus UC system. It will be the first such center established by the space agency, borrowing from a model used by the Department of Defense.

``We see the best way for us to move forward is by collaborations and partnerships,'' said G. Scott Hubbard, director of the NASA/Ames center. ``We want to work with the best and brightest out there.''

Hubbard would not say how many universities or university systems bid on the contract, but he said several had expressed interest. He said the alliance with UC provides NASA/Ames with ``a lot of depth on the bench.''

The new center also will help set the stage for academic partnerships at the fledging 200-acre research-and-education park that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is developing at Moffett Federal Airfield. UC-Santa Cruz, San Jose State University, Carnegie Mellon University and the Foothill-De Anza Community College District all are developing centers there.

``This now will bring UC -- and our campus in particular -- and NASA together in a very powerful way to sustain the future of the NASA Research Park,'' Greenwood said. ``It will be the cornerstone for what we hope will be a substantial project we hope to build there for research, teaching and outreach.''

Snagging the contract aids UC-Santa Cruz's efforts to establish a presence in Silicon Valley and advances its reputation as a leading science and engineering campus.

``NASA has some extraordinary facilities and really cutting-edge problems that need to be solved and are of great interest to university and industry scientists,'' Greenwood said.

Under the contract, NASA will assign the research center specific tasks and UC-Santa Cruz will find the best scientists to do the work. Some of the research will be done at Ames labs and some on UC campuses. A certain percentage can be subcontracted to other educational institutions and private industries.

San Jose State will manage a teaching institute that will be supported by a share of the money NASA pays UC under the contract, said Nancy Bussani, executive director of San Jose State's SJSU Metropolitan Technology Center at NASA Research Park. The institute will develop programs to maximize the educational experience of students from San Jose State, UC and other campuses who will work with faculty members and NASA researchers as part of the research center project.

Bussani said she expects San Jose State faculty also will have opportunities to take part in some of the new research center's work.

Hubbard likened the teaching institute to supporting a teaching hospital. ``It will allow students and young researchers to work alongside senior researchers at Ames and UC to grow the next generation of scientists and engineers,'' Hubbard said. ``It's as important as the basic research mission.''

Hubbard said the research tasks will range from fundamental research such as exploring the properties of carbon nanotubes to applied research tasks such as developing a new sensor for detecting life on Mars.