The Role of Research in Economic Development
William Nicholas, Director of Economic Development
Forty years ago, university research was a small but growing vision on the horizon. Today it is a major player in our economic landscape—and in Mississippi alone, it’s a nearly $500 million industry.
The University of Mississippi is committed to economic development through its role in developing and increasing:
- Expertise
- Innovation
- Technology Transfer
- Entrepreneurship
- A 21st Century Workforce
- Partnerships with the Private Sector
- Coordination with Local, State, and Federal Economic Development Practitioners
- Quality of Life
Technology Commercialization
A successful technology transfer or commercialization process ensures research results have maximum impact in the marketplace. The University of Mississippi technology transfer culture rewards inventors, markets promising innovations, and fosters spin-offs resulting from our research and scholarship.
Technology transfer operations ensure that potentially marketable discoveries are protected and developed to their commercial potential.
Business Engagement
The University of Mississippi has unique assets and research expertise that can help existing Mississippi businesses innovate and be successful, facilitate recruitment of new business to Mississippi, and serve as the foundation for new company creation and employment opportunities. The University welcomes opportunities to work in partnership with business and industry and has established procedures to facilitate such collaborations.
Entrepreneurship is fostered through university programs and enabled through the Mississippi University Research Authority (MURA) act, which allows university employees to have a significant financial interest in private companies that have licensed technologies from the university to further develop those technologies. MURA has led to the establishment of dozens of companies by employees of universities in the state—a visionary way to make a local economic impact.
The University of Mississippi is home to the state headquarters of the Small Business Development Center and supports the development of student entrepreneurship through the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
