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University of Wisconsin–Madison

About

The over-arching goal of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education is to address the complex challenges of the university’s broad research enterprise and support the needs of graduate education across campus, in a thoughtful and collaborative manner, all while providing strong leadership and clear vision in the constant pursuit of research and graduate education excellence.

The OVCRGE oversees about $1.3 billion in annual research expenditures, a figure that puts UW–Madison among the top 10 in the nation among universities for volume of research. The office also includes administration of 17 cross-campus research and service centers, and maintains oversight of the Graduate School, which has an annual budget of $160 million and is responsible for 9,400 graduate students in 150 master’s and 120 doctoral fields.

The Vice Chancellor’s leadership team consists of faculty and staff members representing the various disciplines of research and graduate education, including administration, compliance, policy physical sciences, biological sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. In addition, an extensive network of operational support is in place to support the office’s mission.

The OVCRGE values the contributions of each person and respects the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in research, graduate education, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW–Madison.

Mission

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education advances excellence in research and scholarship by strategically investing annual WARF resources; by supporting multidisciplinary research centers and institutes; and by providing campus-wide administrative infrastructure to support and enhance the university’s broad research enterprise.

Vision

We value and invest in innovative research, outstanding scholarship, and next-generation thought leaders, which together form an enterprise that benefits Wisconsin, the nation, and the world.

Values

Creativity: We identify and seed innovative ideas, which may grow into transformative knowledge.

Integrity: We pursue our mission rigorously through fair, impartial, and disciplined processes.

Equity: We support discovery that is accelerated in a diverse and inclusive research community.

Excellence: We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in research and graduate education.

Well-being:  We foster a balanced, supportive environment that enables our community to thrive.

Collaboration: We build relationships with campus and external partners to achieve our mission.

Service: We serve faculty, staff, and graduate students to advance their research and grow their productivity.

Strategies

To promote excellence in the UW–Madison research enterprise, we:

Build Partnerships with Schools, Colleges, Departments and Centers

  • Assertively recruit outstanding faculty and strategize to retain them
  • Cultivate the indispensable connection between research and graduate education
  • Promote and nurture a culture of inclusion, well-being, and belonging across the UW enterprise

Invest in Research and Researchers

  • Invest strategically in transformative research and scholarship to support and expand knowledge across all disciplines, in partnership with WARF and campus units
  • Advance research and scholarship through efficient research administration, including infrastructure that minimizes burdens on graduate students, researchers, schools, colleges, and departments
  • Escalate the university’s efforts to obtain extramural research funds, including field-specific and multidisciplinary grants and contracts

Educate and Advocate for Academic Research

  • Expand awareness of the value of UW research and the Wisconsin Idea
  • Recognize and celebrate research accomplishments
  • Advocate for the UW research community with all stakeholders — federal, state, philanthropic, industry, campus, public — in support of the research enterprise
  • Ensure the ethical conduct of research and promote research compliance, including support for accreditations for animal research and human research protection programs