Applied research is impact-driven research. It takes experimental techniques and applies them to real world problems in a way that transforms innovation from theory into reality, advancing the state-of-the-art in the process. One way to understand applied research is as extending the growth mindset to how we build products. Just as people improve by embracing learning, growing, and even failure, so, too, must the products we build increasingly emerge from trying something out quickly, making mistakes, collecting feedback, and improving.
The Office of Applied Research is helping to ensure Microsoft is doing cutting edge research towards our core product interests, supporting the applied research community within Microsoft, and building bridges between product groups and MSR and product groups and academic labs. We invite you to learn more about us on our respective profile pages and find out more about Microsoft Productivity Research.