View source for Organization:Microsoft Research

{{Short description|Research division of Microsoft}}
{{Infobox organization
| image              = [[File:Segoe msr logo.png|frameless|upright=1.15|center]]
| caption           = 
| type                 = [[Finance:Division (business)|Division]]
| founders          = {{Ubl|Richard Rashid|[[Biography:Bill Gates|Bill Gates]]|Nathan Myhrvold}}
| founded          = {{Start date and age|1991}}
| owner              = [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]
| num_employees      = ~500<ref name="Bloomberg">{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-microsoft-research/|date=January 25, 2016|access-date=November 3, 2021|website=[[Company:Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]]|first=Jack Clark|last=Dina Bass|title=How Microsoft plans to beat Google and Facebook to the Next Tech Breakthrough}}</ref>
| num_employees_year = in 2016
| key_people         = {{Ubl|Lili Cheng (corporate vice president)}}
| subsid             = [[Company:Havok|Havok Group]]
| website            = {{URL|https://www.microsoft.com/research/}}
}}
'''Microsoft Research''' ('''MSR''') is the research subsidiary of [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]. It was created in 1991 by Richard Rashid,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Rick Rashid: Emeritus Researcher|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/rashid/|access-date=|website=Microsoft}}</ref> [[Biography:Bill Gates|Bill Gates]] and Nathan Myhrvold with the intent to advance state-of-the-art computing and solve difficult world problems through technological innovation in collaboration with academic, government, and industry researchers. The Microsoft Research team has more than 1,000 computer scientists, physicists, engineers, and mathematicians, including Turing Award winners,<ref>{{Cite web|last=McCraken|first=Harry|date=13 February 2019|title=Still Boldly Going|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/90305091/this-is-microsofts-ai-pipeline-from-research-to-reality|access-date=|website=Fast Company}}</ref> Fields Medal winners, MacArthur Fellows, and Dijkstra Prize winners.

Between 2010 and 2018, 154,000 AI patents were filed worldwide, with Microsoft having by far the largest percentage of those patents, at 20%.<ref name="Forbes">Louis Columbus, January 6, 2019 [https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2019/01/06/microsoft-leads-the-ai-patent-race-going-into-2019/#26e74c6944de Microsoft Leads The AI Patent Race Going Into 2019], ''{{wipe|Forbes}}''</ref> According to estimates in trade publications, Microsoft spent about $6 billion annually in research initiatives from 2002 to 2010 and has spent from $10–14 billion annually since 2010.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=9 May 2018|title=Microsoft research and development expenses|url=https://notesmatic.com/microsoft-research-and-development-expenses/|access-date=|website=Notesmatic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Togyer|first=Jason|date=7 August 2009|title=Still Boldly Going|url=https://www.cs.cmu.edu/link/still-boldly-going|access-date=|website=CMU}}</ref>

Microsoft Research has made significant advances in the field of AI which it has infused in its products including [[Engineering:Kinect|Kinect]], [[Software:Microsoft Bing|Bing]], [[Engineering:Microsoft HoloLens|Holo Lens]], [[Software:Cortana (virtual assistant)|Cortana]], [[Software:Microsoft Translator|Microsoft Translator]], [[Company:LinkedIn|Linkedin]], [[Software:Havok|Havok]] and [[Microsoft Dynamics|Dynamics]] to provide its customers with more benefits and better service.<ref name=":1" />

The mission statement of MSR is:
# Expand the state of the art in each of the areas in which we do research
# Rapidly transfer innovative technologies into Microsoft products
# Ensure that Microsoft products have a future

==Key people==
Microsoft Research includes the core Microsoft Research labs and Microsoft Research AI, Microsoft Research NExT (for New Experiences and Technologies), and other incubation efforts all directed by corporate vice president [[Biography:Peter Lee (computer scientist)|Peter Lee]].

== Research areas ==
Microsoft research is categorized into the following broad areas:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/|title=Microsoft Research – Emerging Technology, Computer, and Software Research|website=[[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]|access-date=26 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429165820/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/|archive-date=29 April 2018|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* Algorithms and [[Theory of computation|theory of computation]]
* Communication and collaboration
* [[Computational linguistics]]
* [[Computational science]]
* [[Computer vision]]
* [[Computer systems]] and [[Computer network|network]]ing
* [[Data mining]] and [[Data management|management]]
* Economics and [[Finance:Computational economics|computational economics]]
* Education
* Gaming
* [[Computer graphics]] and multimedia
* [[Computer hardware|Hardware]] and [[Embedded system|embedded system]]s
* Health and well-being
* [[Human–computer interaction]]
* AI for Social Good
* [[Machine learning]] and [[Artificial intelligence|artificial intelligence]]
* [[Mobile computing]]
* [[Quantum computing]]
* [[Software:Search engine technology|Search]], [[Information retrieval|information retrieval]], and [[Knowledge management|knowledge management]]
* [[Computer security|Security]] and [[Privacy|privacy]]
* [[Social:Social media|Social media]]
* [[Social:Social science|Social science]]s
* [[Software development]]
* Programming tools and languages
* [[Speech recognition]], [[Speech synthesis|synthesis]], and dialog systems
* Technologies for emerging markets
* [[Finance:Cryptocurrency|Cryptocurrency]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/microsoft-cryptocurrency-mining-brain-waves-body-data-bitcoin-a9480766.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/microsoft-cryptocurrency-mining-brain-waves-body-data-bitcoin-a9480766.html |archive-date=14 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Microsoft wants to 'read people's brain waves' to mine cryptocurrency|website=Independent.co.uk|date=24 April 2020|access-date=18 December 2020}}</ref>
}}

Microsoft Research sponsors the ''Microsoft Research Fellowship'' for graduate students.

== Research laboratories ==
Microsoft has research labs around the world including the following non-exhaustive list:<ref name="MSR-About-2017">{{cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/about/|title=About Research at Microsoft – Microsoft Research|website=[[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]|access-date=26 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211040256/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/about/|archive-date=11 December 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[File:Microsoft Research's new building "99".jpg|thumb|Microsoft Research Redmond]]
[[File:Beijing Zhongguancun Microsoft Tower 2 微軟大廈2號樓 May-2017.jpg|thumb|Microsoft Research Asia, Beijing]]
[[File:Microsoft Research's soon-to-open fancy new home in central Cambridge. (8052982186).jpg|thumb|Microsoft Research Cambridge]]
[[File:Microsoft_Bangalore.jpg|thumb|Microsoft Research Bangalore]]
* Microsoft Research Redmond was founded on the Microsoft Redmond campus in 1991. It has about 350 researchers and is headed by Donald Kossmann. The bulk of research on the Redmond, Washington campus focuses on areas such as theory, artificial intelligence, machine learning, systems and networking, security, privacy, human–computer interaction, and wearable technologies.{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}
* Microsoft Research Cambridge was founded in the United Kingdom in 1997 by Roger Needham and is headed by [[Biography:Christopher Bishop|Christopher Bishop]]. Antony Rowstron and Abigail Sellen are Deputy Directors. The lab conducts research on  topics including machine learning, security and information retrieval, and maintains close ties to the [[Organization:University of Cambridge|University of Cambridge]] and the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory.{{citation needed|reason=There is a redirect here that has citations not necessarily matching this content but these are needed here and I dont have time to sort it on this pass|date=July 2019}}
* Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA or MSR Asia) was founded in Beijing in November 1998. It has expanded rapidly and now has more than 300 researchers and developers, along with approximately 300 visiting scientists and students (including its new satellite office in Shanghai). Its focus includes natural user interfaces, multimedia, data-intensive computing, search and online advertising, natural language processing, and computer science fundamentals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msra.cn/zh-cn/about|title=关于研究院 - 微软亚洲研究院|website=www.msra.cn}}</ref> This lab forms part of the Microsoft Asia-Pacific Research and Development Group (ARD) R&D center, which also has campuses in Suzhou, Shenzhen, Tokyo, and Taipei.<ref>{{cite web |title=Microsoft Asia-Pacific R&D Group |website=[[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ard/overview}}</ref>
* Microsoft Research India is sited in Bengaluru (Bangalore) and is headed by Sriram Rajamani.<ref name="MSR-About-20190615">{{cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/about/|title=About Research at Microsoft – Microsoft Research|website=Microsoft|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211040256/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/about/|archive-date=11 December 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
* Microsoft Research Station Q, on the campus of the [[Organization:University of California, Santa Barbara|University of California, Santa Barbara]], was founded in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |title=Microsoft Makes Bet Quantum Computing Is Next Breakthrough |work=The New York Times |date=23 June 2014 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/technology/microsoft-makes-a-bet-on-quantum-computing-research.html |last1=Markoff |first1=John }}</ref> Its collaborators explore theoretical and experimental approaches to creating the quantum analog of the traditional bit—the qubit. The group is led by Michael Freedman.<ref>{{cite arXiv |last1=Fabinger |first1=Michal |last2=Freedman |first2=Michael H. |last3=Weyl |first3=E. Glen  |date=2022 |title=Prospecting a Possible Quadratic Wormhole Between Quantum Mechanics and Plurality |eprint=2209.08144 |class=econ.TH}}</ref> Its Quantum Architectures and Computation (QuARC) group is based in Redmond,<ref>{{cite web |title=
Station Q: the Quest for a Quantum Future |website=[[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]|date=24 July 2014 |url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/station-q-the-quest-for-a-quantum-future/}}</ref> while other Station Q satellite locations exist on the campuses of [[Organization:Delft University of Technology|Delft University of Technology]], [[Organization:Purdue University|Purdue University]], [[Organization:University of Copenhagen|University of Copenhagen]], and University of Sydney.<ref>{{cite web |title=
Microsoft's Station Q Sydney investment intensifies global effort to build a quantum economy |website=Microsoft Australia|url=https://news.microsoft.com/en-au/features/microsofts-station-q-sydney-investment-intensifies-global-effort-build-quantum-economy/}}</ref>
* Microsoft Research New England was established in 2008 in Cambridge, Massachusetts adjacent to the MIT campus by Jennifer Chayes who also managed the New York and Montreal labs. The lab is now managed by [[Biography:Susan Dumais|Susan Dumais]]. The lab collaborates with the broader research community and pursues  interdisciplinary  research that brings together computer scientists and social scientists to develop future applications.<ref>{{cite web |title=Microsoft Research New England |website=[[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/lab/microsoft-research-new-england/}}</ref>
* Microsoft Research New York City was established on May 3, 2012.  Susan Dumais serves as Managing Director of this location as well as the New England and Montreal labs. The lab collaborates with academia and other Microsoft Research labs in computational and behavioral social sciences, computational economics and prediction markets, machine learning, and information retrieval.<ref>{{cite web |title=Microsoft Research New York |website=[[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]|date=16 November 2023 |url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/lab/microsoft-research-new-york/}}</ref>
* Microsoft Research Montreal was established after the acquisition of [[Company:Maluuba|Maluuba]] by Microsoft in 2017. Susan Dumais serves as Managing Director of this location as well as the New England and New York City labs. The lab collaborates with academia and other Microsoft Research labs in natural language processing (specifically machine reading comprehension), deep learning and reinforcement learning.<ref>{{cite web |title=Microsoft Research Montreal |website=[[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/lab/microsoft-research-montreal/}}</ref>

=== Former research laboratories ===
* Microsoft Research Silicon Valley,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://msrsvc.org/ | title=Class of 18th September 2014 | publisher=MSR Silicon Valley | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124081231/http://msrsvc.org/ | access-date=June 6, 2021| archive-date=2021-01-24 }}</ref> located in Mountain View, California, was founded in August 2001 and closed in September 2014. Silicon Valley research focused on [[Distributed computing|distributed computing]] and included security and privacy, protocols, [[Fault-tolerant computer system|fault-tolerance]], large-scale systems, [[Concurrency (computer science)|concurrency]], [[Computer architecture|computer architecture]], internet search and services, and related theory.

== Collaborations ==
Microsoft Research invests in multi-year collaborative joint research with academic institutions at [[Organization:Barcelona Supercomputing Center|Barcelona Supercomputing Center]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bscmsrc.eu/|title=BSC-Microsoft Research Centre - BSC-Microsoft Research Centre|access-date=26 January 2017}}</ref> INRIA,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msr-inria.inria.fr/|title=Microsoft Research Inria Joint Centre|access-date=26 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629073928/http://www.msr-inria.inria.fr/|archive-date=29 June 2012}}</ref> [[Organization:Carnegie Mellon University|Carnegie Mellon University]],  [[Organization:Massachusetts Institute of Technology|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), the Microsoft Research Centre for Social NUI and others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/institutes/default.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214173917/http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/institutes/default.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 14, 2008|title=Academic Programs - Microsoft Research|access-date=26 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/msidc/|title=Microsoft India Development Center - MSIDC|website=www.microsoft.com}}</ref>

Since 2016, Microsoft has partnered with Toyota Connected to research technology for  [[Telematics|telematics]], data analytics and network security services.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lippert|first=John|date=4 April 2016|title=Toyota, Microsoft Team Up on Connected-Car Technologies|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-04/toyota-microsoft-form-joint-venture-for-connected-technologies|access-date=|website=Bloomberg}}</ref>

In October 2019, Microsoft partnered with [[Company:Novartis|Novartis]] to apply [[Artificial intelligence|artificial intelligence]] to enhance [[Medicine:Personalized medicine|personalized medicine]]research.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Neville|first=Sarah|date=1 October 2019|title=}}</ref> Novartis and Microsoft join forces to develop drugs using AI
<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/93e532ee-e3a5-11e9-b112-9624ec9edc59 |title=Novartis and Microsoft join forces to develop drugs using AI |newspaper=Financial Times |date=October 2019 |last1=Waters |first1=Richard |last2=Neville |first2=Sarah }}></ref>

In 2023, Microsoft signed a multi-year deal to collaborate with Syneos Health in development of a platform to leverage [[Machine learning|machine learning]] for the optimization of clinical trials.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Keenan|first=Joseph|date=20 March 2023|title=Syneos in AI-focused pact with Microsoft to speed up trials|url=https://www.fiercebiotech.com/cro/syneos-pact-microsoft-speed-trial-commercial-drug-development
|access-date=|website=Fierce Biotech}}</ref>

=== AI for Good ===
Microsoft's "AI for Good" initiative represents a significant commitment to leveraging artificial intelligence technology for social and environmental benefits. This initiative is part of a broader vision by Microsoft to utilize AI in addressing some of the world's most challenging issues, including those related to health, the environment, accessibility, cultural heritage, and humanitarian action.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Using AI for Good with Microsoft AI |url=https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/ai-for-good |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=Microsoft |language=en-us}}</ref> AI for Good includes topics like Microsoft AI for Earth.

== See also ==
* Microsoft Award
* [[Microsoft Research Maps]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/ The Microsoft Research Blog]
* [http://news.softpedia.com/cat/Microsoft/Developing-Projects/ Microsoft Developing Project] (news archive from [[Softpedia]])
* [https://www.msra.cn/ Microsoft Research Asia] local Chinese website

{{Microsoft Research Labs|state=uncollapsed}}


[[Category:Computer science research organizations]]
[[Category:Research and development organizations]]

{{Sourceattribution|Microsoft Research}}