Industry partners invest $11M in second phase of Mcity funding
Eleven companies are investing a total of $11 million in the second phase of industry funding for Mcity, the University of Michigan-led, public-private, research-and-development initiative leading the transformation to connected and automated mobility. As members of Mcity’s Leadership Circle, the companies are each committing a total of $1 million over three years to support Mcity and its programs. Mcity Leadership Circle companies span such sectors as auto manufacturing, suppliers, information technology, insurance, telecommunications and data management. Together, they identify emerging opportunities as well as the barriers to realizing them, anticipate and help shape key standards and regulations, and help guide the direction of Mcity-funded research. To date, Mcity has invested about $20 million in 40 research projects.
Library offers new search function for beta testing
The U-M Library is beta testing a new search interface that combines the various current library discovery modes and methods into a single search function. Ken Varnum, senior program manager in the library’s information technology department, says the ultimate goal is to provide a fast and accessible portal to the millions of items in the library catalog and to the articles, journals, databases and other resources to which the library subscribes. The new interface is optimized for a range of devices, including smartphones, and for the application of assistive technologies. The public beta will continue through the winter term, with the final version expected to launch in early May. To try out the new interface and offer comments, visit search.lib.umich.edu.
Applications sought for Interprofessional Leadership Fellows
Faculty applications are due Nov. 22 for the third cohort of Interprofessional Leadership Fellows from U-M health science programs. Applications are being accepted from the Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses. The 18-month IPL Fellows program enables faculty to develop their interprofessional education and leadership capacity while learning from and working with academic and practice leaders at the university and national levels. To learn more and apply for the 2018-19 IPL Fellows program, visit myumi.ch/Jmjel.
New ranking places U-M eighth in U.S. for research output
A new ranking shows the research strength of U-M in the natural sciences, placing it in the top 10 of American institutions for producing articles in the most selective science publications. The university placed fourth among publicly funded institutions. The Nature Index, compiled by one of the world’s top science publishing groups, bases its rankings on publications in the top tier of scientific journals, which select only the highest-quality and most important work in a particular scientific field. In addition to its overall eighth-place ranking, U-M was eighth in physical sciences, 10th in chemistry, 17th in the life sciences and 18th in earth and environmental sciences.
$1.6 million toward artificial intelligence for data science
A team from U-M has received $1.6 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to help develop a toolkit so that even non-data scientists can use data to possibly answer questions and ultimately speed up the process of discovery. The U-M project seeks to develop algorithms that draw on techniques like machine learning for applications such as understanding video. It is one of 24 projects selected from around the country. DARPA intends to combine techniques from the projects into a central repository.
— Compiled by Safiya Merchant, The University Record; Susan Carney, Mcity; and Kara Gavin, Michigan Medicine Department of Communication
