Overview of Vision Research Training at the University of Michigan

Univ of Michigan Main Campus

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.

It is an especially exciting time for research and research training at U-M. First, there is the campus-wide focus on enhancing diversity. This initiative spans all schools and units of the University and will create a welcoming environment for scholars from all backgrounds. Second, President Schlissel is leading a renewed focus on strengthening the biosciences and is appointing an inaugural Vice Provost for Biological Sciences. The new Vice Provost will create thirty faculty positions for outstanding, interdisciplinary scholars and $150 million dollars will be used to catalyze the development of research and educational programs that leverage U-M’s breadth in the biosciences. This initiative will also achieve better campus-level coordination and cross-campus collaboration. The overall goal is for U-M to be a magnet for the best bioscience faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students in the world.

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.