As mission trips heads to Cambridge, academic partnerships come into focus

Gov. Phil Murphy’s big picture talking points when selling the state to an international audience during his economic mission trips are pretty well known: Great location, fantastic public schools, rich diversity of population and a commitment to progressive values.

He usually offers up one specific: Princeton University.

Having the perennially ranked No. 1 ranked university in the country — one whose name is known around the world — is a big selling point when it comes to selling the opportunity to do research in all forms of STEM.

It also presents an opportunity: Princeton is just one of many top higher education institutions in the state, all of which are seeking new partners.

For all the Nobel Prizes Princeton has won, the nearly $1 billion in research grants at Rutgers, opportunities at Rowan, NJIT, Stevens, Kean, Montclair State and others — New Jersey remains a research market that is eager to grow.

Murphy said as much at a roundtable discussion Friday with members of British American Business, a transatlantic business networking group for C-suite executives and small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK and U.S.

And he certainly will mention it Sunday, when the delegation travels to Cambridge.

“There has been great research being done at universities in New Jersey for a long time — in Princeton’s case, measured in hundreds of years,” he told the group of approximately 20 business leaders. “What we weren’t as good at — and I put the blame first and foremost on the state — was translating that research into the real economy, into the startup community.

“That has changed.”

And no one is happier than Princeton.

Craig Arnold, the vice dean of innovation at the school and a frequent delegate on the Choose New Jersey-led trips, said Princeton makes the trips so it can show – face-to-face – how much it wants to work with others.

“Something I definitely have seen over the years is that companies do not think we’re approachable,” he said. “The whole mission of what we do is to be approachable.

“My job on these trips is to get that message out there. To say, ‘Yes, we want to engage.’

“We can learn just as much from the Microsofts and Googles of the world as we can from the startups that’s just kicking off with some seed of an idea. Our faculty can engage with that and work with that. It’s really important to get that word out.”

And while Princeton certainly brings the most name-brand recognition, Arnold said he goes out of way to tell potential partners that Princeton is just one school of many in the state that can help them.

“I think having an entire academic community is key,” he said. “When Rowan and Rutgers, two of our partners in the area, win, that’s a win for all of us.

“It’s not an ‘us versus them’ scenario, it’s the whole region.”

Bob Bullard, the associate vice president for external engagement and economic development at Rowan and another frequent delegate, couldn’t agree more.

Rowan is the third-fastest growing university in the country. Trips like these are a way to gain international exposure.

“This economic mission, and trips like it, allow us to introduce and highlight Rowan University to a global audience, along with the thriving innovation economy in New Jersey,” he said.

He, too, agrees that Princeton is a plus for everyone.

“Having a perennial top-ranked university in the world on the mission, showcases the strength of higher education throughout the state, including institutions such as Rutgers, NJIT and Stevens.”

Bullard said the trip is an incredible opportunity for the school to showcase the research partnerships between Princeton and Rowan, most notably in photonics, to a global audience, he said.

Arnold said that partnership shows the depth of New Jersey’s academic research talent. Finding the right partner is key, he said.

“Every school has a different purpose,” he said. “There are companies and collaborations that make sense for us that don’t make sense for other schools, and absolutely vice versa. We’re not the right connection for everybody. It really depends on what they want to do.

“When we work together, we can fill out an ecosystem.”

Read the article here.