To boost awareness of the excitement, value, and impact of U-M research, the Office of Research has launched a new online digest that summarizes key research news and trends from across U-M for a broad range of audiences.

Each month, Michigan Research will highlight selected stories from the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses. The targeted audiences include the campus community, alumni, legislators, federal agencies, industry partners and peer institutions.

“In today’s environment of increasing competition for research funding from government, industry and foundations, it is important to show decision makers, opinion leaders, sponsors, and the public what progress we’re making, what insights we are gaining, and how our work is making a difference,” said S. Jack Hu, interim vice president for research.

“This newsletter is a key step in our plans to advocate more strongly for the continued investment in research that will sustain our ability to develop new ideas as well as to educate and inspire our students.”

The idea for the newsletter came from a committee of research communicators convened jointly by the Office of Research and the Office of the Vice President for Global Communications that also included representatives from the U-M Health System, the College of Engineering, and LSA. The group explored ways the university could raise the profile of U-M’s research enterprise — the largest of any public university in the nation — among key internal and external audiences.

 “Our approach is to leverage and complement the considerable amount of research communications work across the campus, creating a concise digest that highlights the best stories, as well as new or existing stories that provide the ‘bigger picture’ about research,” said David Lampe, executive director of strategic communication in the Office of Research.

“We will also tap multiple channels, including alumni newsletters, other publications, and social media to target our intended audiences.”

As part of its outreach strategy, the Office of Research will launch a completely revamped and unified website in early 2015 that focuses on conveying the value and impact of research at U-M, while highlighting the central services available to support faculty, staff, and students engaged in research at U-M.

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