Imagine a world where computers can predict the effects of brain injury to help with rehabilitation, conduct genetic research on plants to develop new biofuels, control stem cells to help with medical treatment and gain a better understanding of plate tectonics and its implications for future life. These projects are among the ten winners that Microsoft External Research revealed today for its A. Richard Newton Breakthrough Research Award. This award provides a total of $US 1 million in funding to encourage breakthrough academic research to help solve some of today’s most challenging societal problems.

Microsoft created the award program last year in honor of the late A. Richard Newton, former dean and professor of the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a longtime member of Microsoft Research’s Technical Advisory Board. Newton died in January 2007.

“With this award, we want to help academic researchers pursue promising new directions at the intersection of computing and other disciplines that have the potential to produce profound results,” said Sailesh Chutani, senior director of the Microsoft External Research. “We named this award in honor of Richard Newton because he was a strong advocate of multidisciplinary research.”