The Roux Institute at Northeastern University, a new high-tech graduate education and research institute in Portland, has received a $100 million gift from the Harold Alfond Foundation.

The donation, the second of its size the institute has accepted this year, will provide financial aid for graduate-level students, funding for post-doctoral research, and support for co-ops with Maine employers, according to a news release from the Roux Institute.

The Alfond Foundation’s gift comes nine months after Northeastern University announced it was opening the Roux Institute in Portland thanks to a $100 million donation from Barbara and David Roux, a Maine native who made his fortune as an entrepreneur and investor in Silicon Valley.

The largest portion of the Alfond gift will provide financial assistance and career support for students and Maine employers interested in benefitting from the Roux Institute’s graduate-level programs focused on the high-tech fields of artificial intelligence, computer and data science, digital engineering, and advanced life sciences and medicine.

“It’s a grow-your-own-talent strategy,” Chris Mallett, chief administrative officer at the Roux Institute, said in a statement. “It’s about getting new talent to Maine while also developing and retaining the amazing talent already here.”

The Alfond Foundation’s $100 million gift—part of a $500 million gift the foundation is providing to eight Maine colleges, universities and organizations—will be used by the Roux Institute as follows:

  • $63.4 million will go toward tuition scholarships over 10 years
  • $16.1 million in post-doctoral research grants over the next 10 years to hire and develop 51 researchers who have arrived to the Roux Institute with a PhD
  • $4.2 million to fund 200 six-month co-ops with Maine employers during the next three years
  • The remaining $16.3 million of the Harold Alfond Foundation gift will go toward operational costs at the Roux Institute over the next 10 years

“This phenomenal investment from the Harold Alfond Foundation will uplift people and communities across Maine—today, tomorrow and for generations to come,” Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern, said in a statement. “The vision of the Roux Institute is to create economic prosperity and opportunity through innovative research and educational programs. The Alfond Foundation, combined with the founding support of Barb and Dave Roux, will allow us to set our sights even higher and make our impact even more profound.”

Later this month, the Roux Institute is scheduled to move into 44,000 sq. ft. of space in a building owned by WEX on Portland’s eastern waterfront.