Microsoft unveils EuroScience Initiative

"By bringing computing technology and the sciences closer together, the EuroScience initiative will accelerate progress in key areas such as the life and physical sciences, engineering and agriculture," Gates said in a statement.

As part of this, Microsoft is to invest in Centers of Excellence, or CoEs, tied to key research institutions across Europe, beginning with a new center for Computational and Systems Biology in Trento, Italy, created as a joint venture between Microsoft, the Italian local and central governments, and the University of Trento. The center will develop computational tools to be used by biologists, ultimately to help them understand the origins of disease and to develop better vaccines and therapies.