When he purchased a defunct textile mill and began the work of repurposing the property into what is now the North Carolina Research Campus, developer David Murdock also wanted to build a world-class scientific hub that would operate alongside and often in tandem with the campus’ other facilities. That vision has become the David H. Murdock Research Institute, which has already drawn scientists and health-care researchers from around the globe. “The lab is there to support the universities in their work, but (Murdock) has put together a combination of equipment unlike anywhere else in the world,” says Lynne Scott Safrit, president of Castle & Cooke LLC, the developers of the campus, which has some 1 million square feet of office and lab space. “We have had Harvard University people here using the equipment, and scientists from other countries. The institute has already been shown as a good opportunity for the best minds in the world to solve the problems in their science, and to be a clearinghouse that serves both our universities here on the campus and those in other places.” The 311,000-square-foot facility’s many instruments include the Bruker 950-megahertz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, the world’s most powerful superconducting magnet, and many other instruments that will draw in private-sector researchers as well. “The goal is for private industry to locate here because they want to utilize the equipment and the minds that they can’t get anywhere else,” Safrit says. “It’s not just about the machines, but also about having all the people here who know the right questions to ask, and know how to get the right answers.”