Graduate Center at Newark

The Newark campus of Rutgers University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) have joined forces to create the Graduate Center at Newark. The Graduate Center strives to further the quality of graduate education and to attract more high-level graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to the city of Newark. The high level of collaboration between the three institutions has positioned Newark as one of the nation`s largest academic communities.

The three participating universities, which have a student population of more than 20,000, attract about $100 million in external funding. Together, Rutgers-Newark, NJIT, and UMDNJ offer more than a dozen collaborative degree programs and produce more than 100 research doctorates annually. As leaders in the effort to prepare individuals for a world that is demanding cross-disciplinary and advanced technical skills, the three universities bring complementary strengths to the center. Their efforts bear fruit in the biological sciences and bioengineering; computer and information sciences; private and public management; the health-related professions; and such application-oriented sciences as physics, mathematics, and the environmental and social sciences. Graduate students enrolled in one institution are able to take courses and use the research facilities at the other campuses. Researchers and faculty members from the sponsoring institutions often collaborate in joint- research projects.

Students at the center, which is located in the University Heights section of Newark, conduct research in such diverse areas as language-based learning disorders, robotics and intelligent manufacturing, the molecular and immunopathologic mechanics of cancer, public health, environmental engineering, global affairs, urban epidemiology, infrastructure planning and assessment, and urban school performance.

The joint project has led to numerous impressive developments in recent years, including:

• University Heights Science Park, a joint venture of Rutgers-Newark, NJIT, UMDNJ, Essex County College, and private industry. The park`s mission is to convert university research into commercial uses.
• A $78 million International Center for Public Health at Science Park, which anchors the biosciences and biotechnology cluster.
• The relocation of the Public Health Research Institute from Manhattan to Newark`s International Center for Public Health. The institute, an independent research organization, focuses on infectious diseases and public health needs.

Anticipated developments in the University Heights area include graduate student housing, multimedia research facilities, and seminar and conference rooms. The partnership between Rutgers-Newark, NJIT, and UMDNJ offers researchers, students, private industry, and government a range of resources that would be beyond the reach of any one university.

A major beneficiary of this effort has been the city of Newark. Included in the more than $100 million in external research funding that the effort brings into the city each year are funds from federal, state, and local governments; private foundations; and corporate sources. In addition, the development of Science Park and the International Center for Public Health is providing new jobs to the community.