U-M research nears $800 million mark in fiscal year 2006

March 14, 2006
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ANN ARBOR—Research expenditures by the University of Michigan reached $778 million in fiscal year 2004-2005, a 3.4 percent increase, and are headed for the $800 million mark in the current fiscal year ending June 30, Stephen Forrest, vice president for research, told the Board of Regents at its monthly meeting Friday.

In just the last 10 years, the University’s research expenditures have nearly doubled, from roughly $400 million in 1995, he said.

Forrest, a noted optoelectronics researcher from Princeton University, became vice president Jan. 1. He told the regents that one of his top priorities will be to focus his office on interdisciplinary research initiatives (such as nanoscience and technology, energy, life sciences) that involve faculty from many units on campus, including the Medical School, College of Engineering and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

“I am impressed by Michigan’s interdisciplinary tradition,” Forrest said.” I take it as one of my priorities as new vice president for research to support and expand that tradition, whether it occurs in engineering, medicine or the humanities.”

Partnerships involving the University, government and industry will also be encouraged, and in turn, should boost the University’s impact on society.

“To help bring the efforts of our research to the broader community, and to give our students the widest possible education, it is essential that a great university engage in partnerships with the private sector,” he said.” Part of my job is to lower barriers and to help faculty in their efforts to develop collaborations with the industrial sector.”

Forrest envisions that U-M technology transfer, the process by which discoveries are translated into the marketplace, can help the regional economy, especially as it shifts to knowledge-based enterprises.