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 16-campus system headed by UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. Nationally recognized Duke University and Wake Forest University are among the state's 36 private colleges and universities. Together, these 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 the UNC-Chapel Hill was ranked the number one place for postdoctorate research by The Scientist magazine in 2005.
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.