German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, MIT President Susan Hockfield, and Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environment Ian Bowles, were on hand at a press conference today to announce the beginning of a partnership between MIT and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. Citing the history of cooperation between Germany and Massachusetts on greentech, such as the collaboration between Q-Cells and Evergreen Solar, Steinmeier said he believed the partnership would be successful in "bringing together the brilliant minds of our two countries." With $5 million from the Mass Tech Collaborative and $1 million from the National Grid, the new Fraunhofer USA Center for Sustainable Energy Systems will focus on developing solar and energy efficiency technologies. The new center will be headed by Evergreen Solar alum Nol Browne. In response to the announcement, Prometheus Institute president Travis Bradford said, "you don't see that every day. And you can quote me on that."