New York State is moving to significantly expand university and corporate research on computer chips and other nanotechnology at the State University of New York at Albany.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, and leaders of the Legislature have tentatively agreed to set aside $300-million in capital funds to expand research and development at Albany’s nanoscience research center, the Albany Times Union reported, as International Sematech, a consortium of semiconductor makers, announced that it would locate its international headquarters in Albany.

Sematech also will spend $300-million of its own money to expand research in Albany, the Associated Press reported. The deal was expected to add 450 jobs in Albany over three years and provide $25-million for research at five colleges, the AP said.

SUNY’s Albany campus has been building its research program in nanoelectronics since the university was named one of the state’s high-technology “Centers of Excellence” in January 2001. In 2002 Sematech agreed to spend $193-million over five years to establish a research center in Albany focused on the use of extreme ultraviolet light to make faster microchips. New York State pledged to contribute $210-million, and after that, more money began flooding in from many sources.

The 2002 deal with Sematech, which was formed in 1987 to raise the competitiveness of the semiconductor industry in the United States, spurred regional euphoria that the consortium’s presence would create hundreds of jobs, spawn start-up companies, and entice more college graduates to stick around. The “Sematech effect,” after all, led to an economic boom in Austin, Tex., where the consortium settled in 1988 and where corporate offices and operations will remain. —Sara Hebel