ANN ARBOR— International research collaborations seeking new ways to fuel transportation will get kick-started by a $2.2 million program sponsored by the University of Michigan and Fraunhofer.

The program will award seed money grants of up to $200,000 annually for two years to projects that explore alternative energy innovations for transportation. Each project must have researchers from both U-M and Fraunhofer, have strong potential to eventually attract external funding and ultimately be good candidates for commercialization.

“Partnerships between U-M and a world-class research and development organization like Fraunhofer will create an environment that can quickly move innovations out into the marketplace,” said Stephen Forrest, U-M vice president for research. “We have great confidence that this will be an exciting research opportunity to get technology quickly into the hands of business and industry, especially in Michigan.”

“Fraunhofer looks forward to this collaboration because of the outstanding research expertise and the global importance of the subject,” said Hans-J.