Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, announced the first-of-its-kind, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional gaming research alliance during a speech to New York University faculty and students here.

Mundie said the G4LI (Games for Learning Institute) is a joint research endeavor of Microsoft Research, New York University and a consortium of universities, including Columbia University, Teachers College ,CUNY (City University of New York), Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of NYU and the Rochester Institute of Technology. According to a Microsoft news release, "The G4LI will identify which qualities of computer games engage students and develop relevant, personalized teaching strategies that can be applied to the learning process."

"Technology has the potential to help reinvent the education process and excite and inspire young learners to embrace science, math and technology," Mundie said. "The Games for Learning Institute is a great example of how technology can change how students learn, making it far more natural and intuitive."

Microsoft Research is providing $1.5 million to the Institute. NYU and its consortium of partners are matching Microsoft's investment, for a combined $3 million. Funding covers the first three years of the G4LI's research, which will focus on evaluating computer games as potential learning tools for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at the middle-school years (grades 6-8). The institute will work with a range of student populations, yet focus on underrepresented middle-school students, such as girls and minorities.

 The article "Microsoft Pledges $1.5M for Games Research" appeared at October 7th in on the website "eweek.com" http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Microsoft-Pledges-15-Million-for-Games-Research/

Published Monday, Oct. 20, 2008