New Jersey Launches Research Portal to Drive Industry/Academic Collaboration

New Jersey Launches Research Portal to Drive Industry/Academic Collaboration

“Research with NJ” Showcased at BIO International New Jersey Pavilion

Boston, MA – New Jersey unveiled a comprehensive database of scientific research from five prominent New Jersey universities this morning at BIO International, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry. University leaders joined officials from New Jersey’s Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) to announce the newly created “Research with NJ” database, which will provide access to the State’s cutting-edge research assets, with the goal of strengthening collaboration between academia and industry.

Research with NJ is a free portal that showcases New Jersey’s experts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), including their professional backgrounds, publications, and achievements. The portal is structured and branded in such a way to encourage collaboration between entrepreneurs, businesses, and New Jersey’s academic research institutions. The portal can be accessed at www.ResearchwithNJ.com.

“Strengthening the connection between academia and industry is critical to Governor Murphy’s strategy for spurring the State’s innovation economy, which is a central focus of his overall vision for economic development,” said EDA CEO Tim Sullivan. “The decisive step represented by the creation of Research with NJ sets us on a clear path toward boosting the State’s standing as a center of innovation.”

Research with NJ is launching with over 3,500 faculty profiles from five public and private universities — New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rowan University, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Stevens Institute of Technology. Within the researchers’ profiles, collectively, are abstracts of more than 180,000 published works, and over 23,000 media citations. This robust body of information allows New Jersey’s entrepreneurs and commercial enterprises to readily find a university’s research, experts, and facilities to help them build innovative new businesses and products based on the latest scientific and technological breakthroughs.

“The alignment of businesses and academic institutions will help to grow New Jersey’s economy by creating opportunities for our institutions of higher education to compete on the national and global levels,” said Secretary of Higher Education Dr. Zakiya Smith Ellis. “Research with NJ offers visibility into groundbreaking research happening in our universities, and will serve as a conduit to innovation, facilitating commercialization of novel ideas and products and attraction of more funding to ensure pioneering research can continue at our world-class institutions.”

Research with NJ was developed under the leadership of an Advisory Board consisting of the five participating research universities and industry representatives from the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, Choose New Jersey, BioNJ, the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey, the R&D Council of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Tech Council. The Advisory Board will provide oversight and recommendations to ensure the portal’s sustainability and success.

Elsevier, a global information and analytics company, was selected to create the database following a competitive Request for Proposal process led by the OSHE and the EDA. Combining its state-of-the-art technology and vast repository of research data, Elsevier has been building information systems for academic institutions for almost two decades. This depth of knowledge and insight into best practices has been critical to Elsevier’s ability to create the data system as seamlessly and efficiently as possible and also to remain focused on long-term sustainability.

Research with NJ is the result of the integration of existing databases at the university level through Elsevier’s Pure software platform. Each participating university has created its own Pure-based portal, designed to feed data into the state-level Research with NJ portal.

Today’s database launch was held in the New Jersey Pavilion (Booth #1721) at BIO International, which includes a New Jersey delegation led by Choose New Jersey. BIO International attendees are encouraged to visit the Pavilion to experience the database firsthand.

“Research with NJ will enhance our ability to present the full scope of what New Jersey can offer companies considering locating in the State,” said Choose New Jersey President and CEO Jose Lozano. “This valuable tool will be a boon to encouraging economic development in sectors known for creating good paying, skilled jobs.”

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New Jersey Launches Research Portal to Drive Industry/Academic Collaboration

Universities:

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT):

Atam P. Dhawan, PhD, Senior Vice Provost for Research, NJIT:

Collaborative research with participation from all stakeholder groups including industry, government and academia is critical today to address technology and market needs. Research with NJ will provide an exceptional resource with information about researchers, facilities and knowledge-base to help building partnerships for such collaborative research towards developing innovative solutions to system-level problems of high societal and scientific impact.

Princeton University:

Pablo G. Debenedetti, Dean for Research, Class of 1950, Professor in Engineering and Applied Science

Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University:

“Our home state of New Jersey is rich with highly-educated people, institutions, facilities and companies that make it a remarkable environment in which to do research. We hope the Research With NJ portal will make it easier for companies and academic researchers with similar interests to find each other and, in turn, to collaborate and accelerate innovation. Advancing science and discovery is at the heart of Princeton’s mission. We are delighted to be participating in this giant step forward for New Jersey!”

Rowan University: 

Dr. Ali Houshmand, president of Rowan University, sees Research with New Jersey as a means to showcase educational, organizational and research capabilities through the Garden State. 

“We have exceptional resources in New Jersey, a strong pool of people working in STEM, medicine, business and other fields who are equipped to partner with corporations and government offices on R&D initiatives and more. New Jersey is home to innovation.”

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey:

Christopher J. Molloy, PhD, RPh, Senior Vice President for Research and Economic Development, Rutgers University:

“As the State’s premier public research university, Rutgers knows the value of collaboration and believes that fostering research partnerships creates fertile ground for an innovation ecosystem that benefits communities and improves lives. Research with New Jersey presents a real opportunity to showcase the impressive research talents and assets we have to offer the business and industry community, students, and researchers around the world, and opens the door to connect, exchange ideas, and innovate together to accelerate progress and enhance our chances for success.”

Business Entities:

BioNJ:

Debbie Hart, President and CEO, BioNJ:

“New Jersey’s stature as the research hub that it is will be further recognized and enhanced with this important new tool creating opportunities for global collaboration and development between academia and industry.”

Elsevier:

JC Heyneke, Senior Vice President Product Management, Pure:

“We are excited that Elsevier’s technology is providing visibility that will help to drive research and innovation in the State of New Jersey. Leveraging Elsevier’s data from Scopus and the technology from our Pure solution is enabling us to help New Jersey researchers, universities and State offices showcase the incredible depth and breadth of research assets in New Jersey.”

HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ):

Dean J. Paranicas, President and Chief Executive Officer, HINJ:

“New Jersey’s universities continuously produce innovative and highly marketable research in many areas,” said. “This powerful new database should effectively enable them to share that research and the underlying expertise readily with the commercial sector nationally and globally. I’m confident that industry researchers and others in a wide range of fields will quickly find it to be a very valuable tool.”

New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA):

Michele Siekerka, President and CEO, NJBIA

“This database will bring national and global attention to businesses seeking collaboration with our renowned research institutions. This is a wonderful and practical tool that will best leverage our incredible assets in the State of New Jersey to create fruitful partnerships between business and academia, increase federal funding opportunities and bring the best and the brightest students from around the world to our institutions.”

R&D Council of New Jersey:

Anthony S. Cicatiello, President, R&D Council of New Jersey

“The R&D Council’s primary goal is to foster collaboration. With the inauguration of this database portal of scientific research from New Jersey’s major universities, we now have a convenient online vehicle for collaboration. Access to New Jersey’s research will be an incentive for companies within the State to check the State’s resources first before looking at other states or countries. This portal will also provide opportunities for Industries around the world to get an overview of New Jersey research capabilities. It is a major step forward that will help bring more industry and research here.

New Jersey Tech Council (NJTC):

James Barrood, CEO, NJTC

“The Tech Council’s mission is to help the ecosystem grow and thrive and this new portal will help tremendously in enabling industry and academia to collaborate more efficiently and effectively. We loo​k​forward to the short and long-term impact of this new initiative.”