ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CORRIDOR

• our vision
• URC update letter from the presidents
• about the university research corridor
• letter from the presidents
• our universities
• fact sheet
• frequently asked questions

What is the University Research Corridor?

The University Research Corridor is an alliance between Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University to transform, strengthen and diversify the state’s economy.

Research Corridor universities spark regional economic development via invention, innovation and technology transfer, by educating a work force prepared for the knowledge economy, and by attracting smart and talented people to our state. We are committed to the state’s success and committed to creating a Michigan that sustains a high quality of life.

The University Research Corridor partners have formed this alliance to improve understanding of the vital role the three universities have played, and will play, in revitalizing the state’s economy. The collaborative effort will disseminate useful information for key stakeholders, including the business community, researchers and students, policymakers and other investors. In doing so, the universities hope to enhance our outreach and collaborative efforts, speed up technology transfer and development, and communicate the advantages of doing business here.

In 1999, our three universities helped establish a Life Sciences Corridor to be on the ground floor of developing a new industry. Now we are building on that success, taking it to a higher level with expanded collaborations in a host of disciplines to better connect our universities with the public we serve.

In an era of global competition and severe economic challenges, research universities serve as economic engines offering Michigan and the United States strategic advantages through sophisticated science, technology, math and engineering education.

Our three institutions together draw $1.3 billion in federal academic research dollars to Michigan, 95 percent of the total coming into the state. Over the past five years, we have announced an average of one new invention every day, and collectively these discoveries have led to more than 500 license agreements for new technologies and systems. Detroit News columnist Dan Howes once wrote our three universities together offer “the closest thing Michigan has to Silicon Valley—an intellectual powerhouse.”

Each year, we produce more than 26,000 graduates, including 3,800 engineers, 1,300 PhDs, 1,400 MBAs, more than 1,000 doctors and nurses and 54 percent of the science and engineering graduates.

With 1 million living alumni, most still in Michigan, we know that together we are greater than the sum of our parts.

In 2005, the federal base closure commission (BRAC) was debating the future of 4,100 jobs at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, home of TACOM. Our research universities, which work with TACOM and private industry on several projects, joined with public officials and the business community to fight for those jobs. Eventually BRAC voted to save those 4,100 jobs and bring an additional 1,000 high-paying jobs from other states to Michigan, citing the “critical mass” of research expertise here.

That is the power of a “brain gain,” a prime example of research as a magnet for economic development. When we unify, bringing together business, universities and government with a shared goal, anything is possible.