 The National Science Foundation has supported research at A&M–Commerce with its Research Experiences for Undergraduates program since 2005, including a $300,000 award for chemistry research spanning from 2013 to 2016.The university opened a new science building in 2006, which is home to its Biology and Environmental Sciences, Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy departments, as well as 29 research laboratories and an 87-seat planetarium.The planetarium hosted 28,000 visitors for its shows during the first year of its operation, nearly doubling its goal of 15,000 patrons for that year; by its second year, it had hosted over 60,000 people, the majority of whom were schoolchildren.