The state of Maryland has joined five higher education institutions to endow nearly $18 million for new professorships around the state.

WIth help from private funding, along with matching grants from the Maryland Department of Commerce, new positions will be created at Bowie State University; Johns Hopkins University; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; the University of Maryland, College Park; and Washington College.

“The latest round of grants from the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative Fund will support cutting-edge research in critically important disciplines such as cybersecurity, cancer detection, chronic disease treatment, applied mathematics, economic development and more,” said Maryland Commerce Secretary Kevin Anderson. “Maryland Commerce is thrilled to once again join our partners in higher education to advance these bold new ideas.”

The endowments were made through the Maryland E-Nnovation Initiative (MEI), a state program created to spur basic and applied research in scientific and technical fields at colleges and universities. The program was created by the General Assembly during the 2014 legislative session and has provided more than $86 million in funding to leverage more than $96 million in private donations.

Read the full announcement