University research officials are starting to get a clearer sense of what will become of the former Pfizer site near North Campus that the University purchased last year.

In the mix is expanded space for University scientists, further partnerships between private companies and public researchers, and the addition of more than 2,000 jobs over the next decade. All in all, they are plans that University officials are hoping will reshape the state’s economy and become a breeding ground for new technologies to improve people’s lives.

After approximately six months of due diligence, the University completed the purchase of the $108 million facility in mid-June. The almost 2 million-square-foot complex previously owned by Pfizer was renamed the North Campus Research Complex. The new space provided by the NCRC will help expand the University’s research capacity by about 10 percent.

In the last fiscal year, the University spent the most its ever spent on research, $1.02 billion — a harbinger for what role University officials see their research sector playing in the institution’s future.

Dr. Ora Pescovitz, executive vice president for medical affairs, said the University’s main objective in buying the site was to have a location where researchers from various disciplines could collaborate on projects that ultimately will benefit the state and beyond.

“The hope is we’ll do ground breaking investigations that will enable us to do innovations that will really have great potential for the entire state of Michigan,” Pescovitz said.

Now that University faculty have one central location to perform this broad range of research, Vice President for Research Stephen Forrest said scientists will be able to interact with each other, which will increase the potential for making big discoveries.

"We can attack much larger problems facing humanity because large problems take people with many different levels of expertise and different disciplines and with different life experiences," he said.

During the summer, more than 200 faculty members worked together to develop plans on how to best use the 174-acre site and determine what types of research will take place in the laboratories.

Medical School Dean James Woolliscroft is leading the planning process. Now that classes have resumed, he said more faculty from different departments are becoming involved in the planning.

“It’s a whole potpourri of things that are being discussed by different committees,” Woolliscroft said.

Those committees have focused on topics that range from performing research in the neurosciences, drug discovery and health care services to logistical needs like food, transportation and Information Technology Services.

Woolliscroft said the committees are mostly determining how to best organize the space to strengthen collaboration between faculty from different schools and colleges.

“We really look at it as an opportunity to transform how we do research — to really capitalize on the tremendous breadth and depth of expertise resident in the faculty,” he said.

Site planners are also exploring ways of enhancing partnerships with private companies, other universities and the government.

Additionally, the NCRC will provide space for startup companies that evolve from University research.