U-M partners with Chinese university for research

Research at the University of Michigan is going global now that it has signed an agreement with a major Chinese university to jointly fund renewable energy and biomedical research projects. U-M and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, based out of Shanghai, have launched two programs that will receive $3 million from each university over the next five years. That money will fund research grants that can go as high as $200,000. Both universities have issued a call for proposals and the first grants are expected to be awarded in June. Proposals must have researchers from both U-M and SJTU.The new partnership hopes to develop new technologies that reduce global carbon emissions, a primary cause of climate change, in the renewable energy end. Think: Research in improving coal technology and creating cleaner vehicles. The biomedical half will focus on technological advances that improve human health, such as minimally and non-invasive therapy and bio-nanotechnology. This is not the first time a regional university has reached across an ocean or two to form a partnership with a foreign institution of higher learning. Lawrence Technological University has formed partnerships with a number of Indian universities in what is becoming a growing trend in higher education.Source: University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke