The University of Michigan
The University of Michigan was founded in 1817 and is a leader in higher education worldwide. With over 51,000 students and more than 5,600 faculty on three campuses, U-M is one of the largest academic centers in the world. Undergraduate, graduate, and professional students have a choice of 19 schools and colleges with approximately 100 degree-granting programs ranked in the top 10 of their field. According to the National Science Foundation, the annual research expenditure at U-M is more than $1.3 billion dollars, ranking 1st for public institutions in the country. The diversity of research activities is a major contributor to U-M’s capacity for growth and development, with scholars at the cutting edge of discovery and translation. U-M provides an extraordinarily rich scholarly environment.
The University of Michigan has made major strides in advancing research and training, with a strong focus on the biosciences. To strengthen this field, the university appointed its first Vice Provost for Biological Sciences. This initiative led to the creation of thirty faculty positions for interdisciplinary scholars and allocated $150 million to support research and educational programs. These efforts improved coordination across campus and promoted collaboration between departments. The ultimate goal was to position U-M as a top destination for leading bioscience faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and students worldwide.
Eye Research at the University of Michigan
Eye research at the University of Michigan stretches across multiple departments and disciplines including: neuroscience, molecular and integrative physiology, developmental biology, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, engineering, and psychiatry. Studies on campus range from electrophysiological measures of visual function, to studying genetic mouse models of visual disorders, omics and targeted analyses of human tissues, and engineering of prosthetic visual systems.
U-M boasts top 10 funding from the National Eye Institute of the NIH and maintains a T32 Vision Training Grant supporting both graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, a P30 Vision Research Core Grant and a K12 Training Grant for vision research by clinician-scientists.
The Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, primarily housed within the Kellogg Eye Center, maintains an outstanding research environment and provides state-of the-art resources and facilities. In 2010, the Brehm tower opened directly adjacent to the original Kellogg tower, doubling the total research space at the Kellogg Eye Center.