According to Dr. Gary William Flake�s �Live Labs Manifesto,� the Internet operates in a manner fundamentally unlike anything that has ever preceded it. It is a world where �something small and intangible � a better algorithm � can massively increase global utility and welfare.�

Microsoft Live Labs is a partnership between MSN and Microsoft Research that takes a holistic approach toward applied research for Internet-enabled products and services. The partnership brings together people with a variety of skills and perspectives to foster research programs, incubate entirely new inventions, and improve and accelerate new Web-based technologies.

This week Flake � head of Live Labs and a Microsoft technical fellow � and his team are announcing 12 winners of a new Live Labs request for proposals (RFP) entitled �Accelerated Search for Academic Research.� The RFP aims to identify bold, innovative and new approaches to information retrieval, data mining, machine learning and human/computer interactions, with the ultimate goal of creating new technologies that can drastically change the way we interact with the Web and its vast array of resources.