MCubed set to enable high-risk, high-reward research at U-M

The research community at the University of Michigan has come up with a simple solution to help fund research that is both high-risk and high-reward - MCubed.

The initiative will make $15 million worth of funding available to professors who choose to collaborate. To qualify, at least three researchers from different disciplines need to come up with an idea and agree to work together.

"We wanted something that was very simple and broad so we took this token approach," says Alec Gallimore, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan and associate dean for research and graduate education at the university's College of Engineering.

MCubed is a first-of-its-kind program that promises to provide real-time research funding through a simple mechanism. The idea is to create a modern alternative to the traditional year-long government grant review process while encouraging bold research.

"We have almost 100 top-10-ranked programs at the university," Gallimore says. "That puts us in a place with only a few other institutions. Few institutions have the breadth and depth we do."

Source: Alec Gallimore, professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan and associate dean for research and graduate education at the university's College of Engineering
Writer: Jon Zemke

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