UMBI partners with a wide variety of scientists and industry leaders from major universities, colleges, corporations and companies in Maryland and beyond. Below are examples of several of UMBI's most successful collaborations to date.

BCARC
With initial funding from the State of Maryland and from industry (Phillips Food Inc.), and with the additional federal funding provided through the Chesapeake Bay Office of NOAA, the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB) led the establishment of the Blue Crab Advanced Research Consortium (BCARC). This national consortium also includes the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, Maryland, the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL), the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) and North Carolina State University (NCSU). The Maryland Watermen's Association and the seafood industry (Phillips Food, Inc.) are also partnering with COMB in the blue crab research program. BCARC is the first and only national research consortium addressing blue crab biology, ecology and fisheries concerns in the Chesapeake Bay and beyond.

NIST/CARB
CARB is a partnership among the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI), the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST), and Montgomery County, Maryland. The University of Maryland and NIST have shared a history of cooperation in education, research, and public service. In early 1983, the University, NIST, and Montgomery County instituted plans to increase the University's presence in Montgomery County by establishing a Center devoted to life sciences research. In 1984, Montgomery County and the University agreed to develop the 50 acre Gudelsky Tract for use by the University System of Maryland.

LMRCSC
UMBI is one of six institutes within the Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC) and provides hands-on research opportunities for minority students from the other partners as well as from local minority-serving institutions during an 8-10 week long internship. In 2006, seven students from UMES participated. The program is coordinated by Dr. Rosemary Jagus, a faculty member at COMB. Dr. Jagus hopes to excite achievement oriented minority students by placing them in real, high impact lab research. Student research projects focused on disease, reproduction, and development using oysters, finfish, and Maryland blue crabs as subjects.

Workshops
In partnership with BioTechPrimer, Inc., UMBI supports basic biotechnology workshops for non-scientists working in the biotech industry. These workshops provide non-scientific biotech professionals with an understanding of the research, skills and developmental aspects of the industry.

ExPERT Program
UMBI is also a collaborative partner in the National Science Foundation's Math and Science Program sponsored Vertically Integrated K-16 Partnership with the Montgomery County Public Schools and the University System of Maryland. UMBI has developed a structured program to sponsor teachers in month-long research internships at the Center of Marine Biotechnology. The goal of the ExPERT Program is to provide science teachers with exposure to scientific inquiry and laboratory skills that can be translated into new curricula for their students.