Johns Hopkins University, APL to Join Facebook-Funded Tech Development Research Agreement

Johns Hopkins University and its Applied Physics Laboratory have joined a Facebook-sponsored academic research agreement that looks to advance the development of technology that will support collaborations between researchers and the social media company.

The laboratory said Wednesday it will work with 15 other universities, including Stanford, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Princeton, University of California Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Georgia Institute of Technology on the SARA initiative.

“This agreement provides an avenue through which we can explore potential applications of these technologies that are complementary to our traditional research areas,” said Ralph Semmel, APL director.

The project is sponsored by Facebook’s Building 8 research and development and product expansion team led by Regina Dugan, former head of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.