Ripple has announced the expansion of its University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) by adding 11 new partners, making a total of 29 members. The program is aimed at promoting blockchain-focused academia and research. The company has committed a funding of $50 million to UBRI’s first wave of university partners.

The UBRI program offers blockchain related courses to people from various disciplines such as engineering, business, software development, etc. The list of universities that have joined include Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Duke University, Georgetown University, University of Kansas, University of Michigan, Morgan State University, National University of Singapore, Northeastern University, University of Sao Paulo, Institute for Fintech Research (Tsinghua University).

Eric van Miltenburg, SVP of Global Operations at Ripple, has praised blockchain as an incredibly transformational technology and said that having skills in this field will surely bring benefit. He has also added that the firm is looking forward to expanding its reach to a more global and diversified network of UBRI partners.