About the University of Michigan – Shareable Content for Proposals
Sponsors often require information about the academic institution where the research will take place. Find an overview of U-M and its research enterprise for project teams to use in proposals.
Sponsors often require information about the academic institution where the research will take place. The following provides an overview of U-M and its research enterprise for project teams to use in proposals. In addition, the Frequently Required Proposal Data & Documents page provides information often requested in proposals.
U-M overview
The University of Michigan (U-M) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is one of the top universities in the world. Since 1817, the University has provided a national model of a complex, diverse, and comprehensive public institution of higher learning that: supports excellence in research; provides outstanding undergraduate, graduate, and professional education; and demonstrates a commitment to service through partnerships and collaborations that extend to the community, region, state, nation and around the world.
The University’s mission is to serve the people of Michigan and the world through preeminence in creating, communicating, preserving, and applying knowledge, art, and academic values, and in developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.
The University serves its student body of more than 65,000, retains an eminent faculty of more than 9,000, and features more than 280 degree programs, including 100-plus top-ranked graduate programs. Michigan’s excellence in higher education rests on the outstanding quality of its schools and colleges, as well as on national recognition of individual departments and programs and on the many major scholarly and creative contributions of its faculty.
With nearly 700,000 alumni around the globe, Michigan is a national leader in securing private sector support from its friends and alumni.
Learn more about the University of Michigan:
U-M research enterprise
A leading research institution, the University of Michigan reported a record $2.16 billion in research expenditures during fiscal year 2025, fueling innovations to advance human health, create sustainable technologies and build economic opportunity. .
Throughout U-M’s 19 schools and colleges, along with a top-ranked medical center and campuses in Dearborn and Flint, faculty, staff and students lead important research in virtually every major area of science, engineering, medicine, social sciences, management, education and the humanities. The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) works closely with research centers and institutes from across U-M to spark new discoveries, generate new knowledge and create positive change in communities worldwide.
U-M is a leading U.S. public research university, according to the National Science Foundation, and offers 2.8M square feet of lab space for research and teaching. In fiscal year 2025, U-M researchers received more than 1,600 research awards. Research led by U-M faculty and researchers generated a record-breaking 673 new inventions. Additionally, 31 startups were launched to support the commercialization of U-M research discoveries.
Working together across disciplines is a hallmark of the U-M research environment as researchers join with colleagues in other fields to advance knowledge, solve challenging problems and create marketable products.
Learn more about research at U-M:
Office of Research and Sponsored Projects
The Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP), a unit of OVPR, enables and safeguards the conduct of research and other sponsored activity for U-M. ORSPapplies specialized regulatory, statutory and organizational knowledge as one of the University’s central offices granted authority to sign and negotiate on behalf of the University. Specifically, ORSP reviews and authorizes funding proposals, negotiates contracts and agreements, and provides nonfinancial post-award management.
In FY2025, ORSP reviewed and submitted more than 8,300 proposals, processed more than 2,500 awards, and executed almost 2,000 unfunded agreements (e.g., nondisclosure, data use, etc.)
Learn more about ORSP.