A research centre a graduate found in US state (7)
I believe the answer is:
alabama
'us state' is the definition.
(Alabama is a US state)
'a research centre a graduate' is the wordplay.
'research centre' becomes 'lab' (laboratory).
'graduate' becomes 'MA' (abbreviation for Master of Arts).
'a'+'lab'+'a'+'ma'='ALABAMA'
'found in' is the link.
(Other definitions for alabama that I've seen before include "17th US state, joined 1819" , "State of southeastern US" , "Somewhere in US" , "US state, capital Montgomery" , "US state in the cotton belt" .)