Innovation & Job News

Procter & Gamble inks research deal with Michigan's public universities

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Rochester, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Detroit

Many big corporations have master research agreements with the public universities in Michigan. However, a new deal with Procter & Gamble could provide a platform for expanded master agreements and encompass all of Michigan's public universities.

This type of far-reaching agreement is the first of its kind and modeled off a similar agreement Procter & Gamble brokered with Ohio (its home state) last year.

"The biggest opportunity we see is to develop a relationship with a Fortune 500 company to build better research with it," says Jeff Mason, executive director of the University Research Corridor. "We want to do that not only with our research universities but with the rest of the universities in the state."

The idea is to simplify and streamline the process of commercializing research. This new deal is expected to create an environment that will accelerate turning research from universities into new businesses by having one simple, broad-reaching agreement.

"Hopefully, we'll see results sooner than we would without this," Mason says.

Source: Jeff Mason, executive director of University Research Corridor
Writer: Jon Zemke

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Procter & Gamble inks research deal with Michigan's public universities

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