University Partners
CIGLR’s core mission is to help NOAA accomplish its goals for research and management of the Laurentian Great Lakes. One way we expand and enhance NOAA’s research capacity in the Great Lakes is by fostering interactions between NOAA scientists and academic researchers at University Partner Institutions that include the following 10 universities: Central Michigan University, Cornell University, Grand Valley State University, Lake Superior State University, Michigan State University, University of Michigan (administrative lead), Ohio State University, University of Minnesota-Duluth, University of Windsor and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
University Partners provide valuable resources to the CIGLR partnership that help strengthen NOAA’s mission in the Great Lakes, including:
- Infrastructure & Research Vessels – NOAA’s mission spans all of the Great Lakes, yet its research infrastructure and vessels do not. University Partners agree to allow researchers from NOAA, CIGLR, and other university partners to use their Great Lakes research vessels and laboratory facilities at their “in-house” cost.
- CIGLR Governance – To ensure CIGLR is not only meeting the needs of NOAA, but is serving the academic community across the entire Great Lakes, University Partners elect one member to serve on the CIGLR Council of Fellows.
- Reduced Overhead – The University of Michigan has historically administered CIGLR grants at an off-campus indirect cost (IDC) rate. University Partner institutions agree to a administer CIGLR subcontracts at off-campus IDC rates, to establish with NOAA a uniform cost of doing academic research across the Great Lakes.
These University Partners bring together intellectual expertise and physical resources throughout the Great Lakes basin to address the most pressing natural resource issues and their related human dimensions. While CIGLR cannot guarantee funding to University Partners, the interactions that we foster between NOAA and partner institutions increase the development of projects and probability of funding that will advance top-notch science in the Great Lakes. CIGLR fosters these interactions through a variety of programs, including: