Actually, the project is a collaboration of considerableacademic and research prowess. Besides the UMDNJ, RutgersUniversity, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Essex CountyCollege are all involved. The institutions' leaders sit on a panelcalled the Council on Higher Education in Newark, along with cityofficials and business leaders.

When the project was first announced last year, officialspromised that it would have mixed uses besides just the researchactivity. Interestingly, the initial non-research use that will bebuilt is Science Park Village, a 125-unit housing project. It's allpart of an effort to re-establish residential communities withinNewark, which has seen people move out in significant numbers overthe last four decades. The current population of about 250,000pales compared to the nearly 450,000 the city had at its peak inthe late 1950s.

According to Jeanette Brummell, executive director of UniversityHeights Science Park, plans are in the works to add a magnetscience facility, a technology high school, and an officecomponent. The latter would include an expansion of the businessincubation program currently operated by NJIT.