Microsoft Research Overview
March 2008 In 1991, Microsoft Corp. became one of the first software companies
to create its own computer science research organization. Microsoft
Research has developed into a unique entity among corporate research
labs, balancing an open academic model with an effective process for
transferring its research to product development teams. Today the
world-renowned scientists of Microsoft Research make up one of the
largest, fastest-growing and most highly respected software research
organizations in the world — one that will help define and redefine the
computing experience for millions of people for decades to come. From
the beginning, fostering rapid and smooth technology transfer through
deep relationships with Microsoft product groups has been a top priority
for Microsoft Research. Soon after its creation, Microsoft Research
established a dedicated technology transfer team to help bridge the
long-range research and near-term product development functions within
Microsoft. The technology transfer program managers focus on building
strong, collaborative partnerships between researchers and product teams
to help fulfill a shared vision: seeing their innovative work reflected
in improved software products for Microsoft customers. The benefits of
this successful partnership can be seen throughout virtually every
product Microsoft has delivered, from Microsoft Windows 95 to Windows
Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Technologies developed
within Microsoft Research are also licensed externally through the
company’s IP licensing program.
Open collaboration has been a top priority for Microsoft Research from
the beginning as well. Throughout its history, Microsoft Research has
published more than 3,500 peer-reviewed publications. Many of these
papers have been recognized with best-paper awards and are considered
milestones in the field of research. In addition, Microsoft researchers
work with scientists around the world to identify the greatest computer
science challenges, develop solutions, and continually explore
possibilities for the future of computing.
Building a Global Think Tank
Today Microsoft Research has more than 800 researchers, including some
of the world’s finest computer scientists, sociologists, psychologists,
mathematicians, physicists and engineers, working across more than 55
areas of research. Although most of its researchers are based at
Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters, Microsoft Research has
expanded globally to ensure it can attract the richest pool of talent.
Microsoft Research currently operates labs in five worldwide locations
and recently announced plans to open its sixth lab, Microsoft Research
New England.
- Microsoft Research Cambridge.
Established in 1997, Microsoft Research Cambridge in England was
Microsoft’s first research laboratory to be established outside the
United States. Today the lab’s researchers, mostly from Europe, are
focused on the following areas of research: programming languages,
security, information retrieval, machine learning, computer vision,
operating systems and networking.
- Microsoft Research Asia. The Asia lab, located in Beijing,
was founded in 1998 and is Microsoft’s basic research facility in the
Asia-Pacific region. Researchers in the Asia lab focus on the following
six areas: next-generation user interface, next-generation multimedia,
digital entertainment, wireless and networking, Web search and data
mining, and theory studies.
- Microsoft Research Silicon Valley. The Silicon Valley lab
was established in August 2001 on the Microsoft campus in Mountain View,
Calif. The lab’s research work focuses on distributed computing and
includes Web search, datacenter-scale computing, concurrent programming,
computer architecture, security and privacy.
- Microsoft Research India. The India lab opened in 2005 and
is located in Bangalore. Researchers in this lab focus on multilingual
systems, technologies for emerging markets, digital geographics,
cryptography and security, mobility, networking and systems, rigorous
software engineering, and algorithms.
- Microsoft Research New England. The New England lab is
scheduled to open in July 2008 in Cambridge, Mass. The lab will pursue
new interdisciplinary areas of research that bring together core
computer scientists and social scientists to better understand, model
and enable the computing and online experiences of the future.
Collaborative Research
Microsoft Research collaborates with the world’s foremost researchers in
academia, industry and government to move research in new directions
across nearly every field of computer science, engineering and general
science. Through global and regional initiatives, Microsoft aims to
accelerate research and discovery and ultimately help researchers and
scientists address some of the toughest, most urgent societal and
technological challenges.
For
more information, press only:
Julie Woodbury, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide,
(503) 443-7000, juliew@waggeneredstrom.com
Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom
Worldwide, (503) 443-7070, rrt@waggeneredstrom.com
For more information
about Microsoft Research:
http://www.research.microsoft.com
|
