Biological Sciences FAQs

For Biological Sciences, the 2026 Fall Research Competition will support:

1. research projects that serve as backup (“insurance”) for pending external grant applications, and
2. pilot studies to develop a new research area that will result in additional external grant funding.

 

WHO FUNDS THE FALL RESEARCH COMPETITION?

The Fall Research Competition is funded by a gift from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF). Since its founding in 1925, WARF has served the UW–Madison scientific community by patenting research discoveries at the UW–Madison and licensing such technologies to leading companies in Wisconsin, the U.S., and worldwide. WARF distributes the income from these commercial licenses between the UW–Madison Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR), the inventors, and their departments. The Fall Research Competition is one means by which the OVCR distributes the gift to faculty and permanent PI’s on campus.

WHO CAN APPLY?

The fall research competition is open to tenured professors and associate professors, tenure-track assistant professors, and permanent PIs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. A current list of academic staff with permanent PI status that are eligible to apply can be found online.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SEEK A FALL RESEARCH COMPETITION AWARD AS “INSURANCE” FOR ANOTHER GRANT?

Asking for “insurance” commits you to apply for funding from an external sponsor. You can ask for insurance only if you will have a funding decision about the extramural proposal before the fall research competition award would begin, that is, by July 2027. In most cases, this means that your proposal must have been submitted by summer or fall 2026. The application provides a place to enter the dates of the expected submission and decision, and the dates must be provided for the committee to consider your application as “insurance.” The budget of external grant that you are requesting insurance for must be significantly greater than the monies that you request from the Fall Research Competition. If you do not submit the external proposal, Fall Research Competition funds will not be released.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SEEK A FALL RESEARCH COMPETITION AWARD FOR “PILOT STUDIES”?

Tenured professors and associate professors, and permanent PIs can apply for seed money for development of a new research area (‘pilot study’) and research proposal to an external funding agency.  In general, pilot awards are for tenured faculty that currently have external grant funding and are requesting funds to seed a new research area that will result in additional external grant funding.

AM I ELIGIBLE TO APPLY IF I HAVE RECRUITMENT OR STARTUP FUNDS?

New faculty receive recruitment packages to help them launch an externally funded research program. The policy of the research committee is that at least 75 percent of the startup package must be spent before funding from a new Fall Research Competition award is activated. If more than 25 percent of the startup package is available at the time of applying, the Fall Research Competition application must include a specific and realistic plan to spend the startup funds before July 1 of the year in which the award would be activated. The committee evaluates the realism of the spend-down plan (e.g., has an order been placed for a piece of equipment that will reduce the startup package; has funding been committed to a current graduate research assistant or post-doc) in deciding eligibility. Fall research competition funds can be denied if remaining startup funds exceed 25 percent of the original amount.

MAY I ENTER THE COMPETITION IF I HAVE UNSPENT FUNDS FROM A RETENTION, VILAS ASSOCIATES, ROMNES, KELLETT, OR WARF NAMED PROFESSORSHIP?

Balances in these accounts are considered “non-prejudicial” for Fall Research Competition awards and are not considered in deciding eligibility for an insurance award. See the separate FAQ on start-up funds for information about how they are considered.

MAY MULTIPLE COLLABORATORS SUBMIT FRC INSURANCE REQUESTS FOR THE SAME EXTERNAL PROPOSAL?

No. Only one Fall Research competition “insurance” request will be awarded for a single external proposal. Coordinate with your collaborators to prevent requests from multiple PIs for the same external proposal.

HOW ARE PROPOSALS REVIEWED?

After the application deadline, your application will be assigned to a member of the Biological Sciences Research Committee (in many cases they are not an expert in your research field). A member of the Research Committee will contact you or your department administrator to set up an appointment for an interview. At the interview, your assigned reviewer will ask questions they have about your proposal, and you will have an opportunity to describe and summarize your proposal. The purpose of the interview is not an opportunity for the investigator to correct a hastily written proposal. The entire committee (which has representation across the biological sciences) will evaluate your proposal. They will base their evaluations on the information in the written proposal.

At a Research Committee meeting, an assigned reviewer will present your proposal and answer questions from other committee members. They will lead a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal and its potential for enhancing future external funding for your research program. After the discussion, each committee member confidentially scores your proposal, and once all reviews have been completed, funding recommendations will be made by the entire committee. You will be notified of the competition results via email in December.

WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF AN APPLICATION?

The application process begins with an online application form, including short abstract, budget, project description, and other information. This form serves as the primary mechanism for describing your proposed research to the reviewers.

HOW CAN I BEST PRESENT MY PROPOSED WORK IN THE LIMITED SPACE AVAILABLE ON THE APPLICATION?

Use headings to structure your application (i.e., specific aims, significance, approach, etc.). The scope of the work proposed via fall competition should be limited to aims that can be accomplished during a 1-year grant period. Be sure to make a case for the importance of your research for your discipline and how the project further advances knowledge in your field. In the Approach section, describe the study design and data analysis procedures. In the budget section, please provide a detailed justification for the budget requested and prioritize the items in your budget from most important to least important. In the applicant info provide a summary of how each current student is supported. e.g. training grant, RA, PA, TA , self-funded, fellowship, start-up, etc.

Remember that your proposal will be reviewed by scholars in a broad range of biological sciences disciplines. Many may not be familiar with your field, and it is unlikely that anyone on the committee will be an expert in your research area. Explain your project with a minimum amount of jargon. In evaluating your proposal, the committee will give the greatest weight to the written application. Importantly, explain the strategic role the Fall Research competition award would play in obtaining sustainable future external research funding for your research agenda. For an insurance proposal, explain how your Fall Research competition proposal relates to the insured proposal and how Fall Research competition funding will enhance future external funding for the proposed topic; the scope of the Fall Research competition proposal will likely be narrower than that of the insured external proposal and should focus on key results that will bolster future external proposals.  For a pilot study award, explain how the proposed studies and the requested funds will seed a new research area that will result in additional external grant funding.

WHAT BUDGET ITEMS CAN I REQUEST?

Support may include a graduate student project or research assistant, research associate, student hourly, or funds for data, research-related travel, supplies, or small equipment. Provide a justification and rank your budget items from highest to lowest priority. See separate FAQs about PI salary support.

HOW MUCH DETAIL IS NEEDED IN THE BUDGET JUSTIFICATION?

Budgetary decisions are made based on the overall merits of the application as evaluated by the committee and on the strength, clarity and detail of your budget justification. Clearly outline how the budget items and amounts are needed for the research you plan. The committee must be able to understand why you need the resources you request. Partial awards are not uncommon. Thus, rank your budget items from highest to lowest priority.

WHEN DOES THE FALL RESEARCH COMPETITION PROVIDE SALARY SUPPORT FOR FACULTY?

Faculty with 12-month appointments cannot request salary support. Permanent PIs and faculty with 9 month appointments are eligible for up to one or two months of summer salary. For example, summer salary support has been occasionally awarded if the researchers themselves conduct primary data collection. Awards seldom include both faculty summer salary and a research assistant. The Fall Research Competition cannot be used to buy out teaching a course or supplement a sabbatical.

HOW IS ELIGIBILITY FOR SUMMER SALARY CALCULATED?

Information on determining summer salary eligibility limits can be found here.

WHAT DOES THE POLICY OF PROVIDING SALARY SUPPORT ONLY IF THE PI IS CONDUCTING “FULL-TIME RESEARCH” MEAN?

The policy means that, during a time when you are receiving salary support from the OVCR you must be working on research full time rather than combining research efforts with other obligations such as teaching or administration. Thus, if you are awarded a month of summer salary, it is the expectation that you will not be the instructor of record for a course offered during that month.

WHAT TYPES OF TRAVEL CAN I REQUEST?

Travel necessary to accomplish the proposed research can be supported. The PI should make clear the role of travel in completing the project in the budget justification section. Travel to report research findings at meetings or other venues will not be considered. The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) maintains a separate program to support conference travel; please see the OVCR Conference Travel website for further details.

WHAT TYPES OF EQUIPMENT CAN I REQUEST?

You may request funds to purchase small research equipment necessary for the proposed research but that would not be purchased in the normal course of your occupational duties. Instrumentation and equipment requests with costs less than $50,000.00 will be considered. The Research Committee does not fund standard computer packages, which are the responsibility of the individual’s School or College, or software that is a normal component of one’s office computer.

HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER HUMAN SUBJECTS APPROVAL IS NEEDED?

You must indicate if your proposed project will require human subjects’ approval. In most cases the IRB must decide whether a project is exempt; the PI cannot make this decision. Do not assume that existing/secondary or purchased data sets, data from social media, other sources of data do not require IRB approval. Contact the IRB to get a preliminary assessment before you check this box. If you receive a Fall Research Competition award, activating that award will be contingent on your obtaining any required approvals.

THE APPLICATION ASKS HOW I USED RECENT RESEARCH COMMITTEE AWARDS AND WHAT PRODUCTS RESULTED. WHAT SHOULD I PUT IN THIS SECTION?

The Committee wants to know whether you accomplished the goals for which previous Fall Competition awards were given and what outcomes have ensued. For each Fall Research Competition award that you have received in the past three years, list products and outcomes directly relevant to the award, including conference presentations, papers published, in press, or under review, and any grants that have been awarded or submitted. Provide full citations for published manuscripts and for those in press. You must provide complete information about outcomes and products from previous awards before a new Fall Research Competition award is activated. The Research Committee does not provide multiple years of funding for the same project. The Research Committee prioritizes positive outcomes from prior Fall Research Competition awards (e.g. submissions and awards of external research proposals, published papers, etc) and the launching of new research directions distinct from those previously supported via the Fall Research Competition.

HOW CAN I PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW ITSELF?

Before the interview, review the application requirements and be prepared to answer questions posed by the reviewer who interviews you. Remember that your reviewer is unlikely to be an expert in your field. Share any publications or other materials that might help explain your project. If you have submitted a proposal for external funds for which the fall competition proposal is insurance, provide your reviewer with a copy of the program description or specific aims. The reviewer’s job is not to serve as your advocate on the committee but is the primary reviewer who will summarize your project and its potential for obtaining external research funding for your research for other committee members. Equip your interviewer with the information they will need to present your proposal as clearly as possible.

WHAT ARE THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH COMMITTEE PRIORITIES FOR FALL COMPETITION FUNDING?

The committee will consider requests for funds to support “pilot studies” and “insurance” awards with priority given to the latter. The committee makes “insurance” awards for pending research applications to extramural funding agencies. The “insurance” funds are provided should the “insured” proposal(s) fail to be funded by the external agency. The Fall Competition insurance funds are intended to support additional research needed to strengthen the resubmission of the proposal to an extramural funding agency. Funds awarded to “insure” proposals that receive external support are returned to the Research Committee for distribution to other campus research priorities.

The committee will also consider requests for “pilot” funds to support new research directions that will result in additional external grant funding.  Priority for “pilot” awards is given to investigators that currently have external grant funding and are requesting funds to seed a new research area.

A major goal of the Fall Research Competition is to help leverage outside research dollars. Requesting graduate student support is encouraged.

WHAT CRITERIA ARE USED IN DECIDING WHICH PROPOSALS TO FUND AND FOR HOW MUCH?

The most important criteria are the significance and excellence of the research, including the research questions, rigor of the design/ approach, and strength of the data and potential impact of the proposed research in enhancing future external research funding for your research agenda. The committee also considers the appropriateness of the budget, productivity of the investigator, funding level of the investigator, whether the investigator is a probationary faculty member and whether significant recruitment (“start-up”) research funds remain. Additionally, the committee prioritizes whether the proposal is “insurance” for a submitted extramural grant.  Upload a full CV versus a biosketch to help reviewers accurately assess research productivity (e.g. grant funding history, publications, invited talks, grad student and post doc mentoring).

DOES THE COMMITTEE CONSIDER PREVIOUS RESEARCH COMMITTEE FUNDING WHEN MAKING A DECISION ON AN APPLICATION?

The pattern and frequency of Research Committee Research award utilization is one factor considered when reviewing applications to the Fall Competition. The number of applications submitted is not particularly relevant, but the frequency with which Research Competition funds are expended has an impact on funding decisions. As a rule, frequent use of Fall Research Competition funds (e.g. multiple years in succession) reduces the probability of funding in any given competition. Funds awarded but not expended (i.e. insurance was not necessary) are not prejudicial.

WHAT IS AN AVERAGE AWARD IN THE FALL COMPETITION?

For the 2025 Competition, the average award was $66,000, which include fringe benefits and tuition remission. Only a few awards were for substantially more than this amount, and awards for less than the requested amount are common. Please request a budget appropriate to the scope of work.

DO I NEED TO BE IN RESIDENCE FOR MY AWARD?

Travel away from UW-Madison needed to conduct research is fully appropriate. Remember, however, that Fall Research Competition support is an investment in UW-Madison tenured or tenure-track faculty and Permanent PI development. It is available only for persons who will be UW–Madison staff members in residence on the Madison campus in the semester following that support.