With approximately $1.6 billion in annual research funding, North Carolina's universities firmly anchor the front end of the product development pipeline.
That research spans a wide range, from marine science to forestry and from cancer diagnostics to aging. University researchers garner, on average, 150 patents each year.
The University of North Carolina - the nation's first public university - is a 17-campus system including such research powerhouses as UNC at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Duke and Wake Forest universities lead the state's 36 private colleges and universities in international acclaim. Statewide, these public and private institutions offer more than 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
About half of the state's 1,100 doctorate recipients complete their study in biological and related sciences, and UNC at Chapel Hill has been ranked the number-one place for postdoctoral research by The Scientist magazine.
Highly ranked schools of medicine, engineering, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, law and business round out the spectrum of expertise that helps drive North Carolina's economic development.