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University of Wisconsin–Madison

Making Research Work

Making Research Work is a blog produced by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education. The blog keeps the UW-Madison research community posted about efforts to support the research enterprise on campus.

To sign up to receive blog posts please send an email to: join-makingresearchwork@lists.wisc.edu

Making Research Work: Record ‘Other Support’ when applying for federal grants

Federal grant making agencies continue to revise and update guidance on expectations for Other Support (also known as Current and Pending Support) documents in grant applications. It is important that researchers are aware of these changes and guidance.

Making Research Work: Addressing Upcoming Potential On-campus Research Disruptions

Dear Research Colleagues: We are looking to the upcoming academic recess, Nov. 26-29, and what that means not only for instruction, but for research. Beginning Monday, Nov. 30, in-person group instruction, including final exams, will be fully remote. But some students may be planning to continue their in-person scholarly activities. We recommend that all students consult with ...

Making Research Work: Getting ahead of grant deadlines leads to greater success

As federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, have been doling out billions of dollars recently to address impacts of COVID-19, we have seen researchers scrambling to apply for this emergency research funding. I applaud UW–Madison’s effort to respond to this rapidly evolving crisis and have been impressed by our research community’s success in ...

Making Research Work: Supporting our international students and researchers

UW–Madison has an amazing community of international students, visiting scholars, and faculty who now call Wisconsin their home. The university benefits from the scientific and cultural contributions of these students and scholars.

Making Research Work: Phase 1 of the campus research reboot

I hope you and your families are safe and healthy. We have come to the end of this very unusual spring semester, during which COVID-19 has dramatically changed how we conduct research and scholarly activities on campus. As Chancellor Blank noted in her May 18 Blank’s Slate blog, we are now looking forward and preparing for ...

UW–Madison research community furlough memo April 29, 2020

Dear Colleagues, I want to provide comments on the recent furlough policies. The furlough requirements will be applied uniformly to all funds, including research grants. Yet some leadership decisions about furlough implementation have been made to account for economic inequalities. Graduate students and postdocs will not be furloughed, and progressive furlough requirements will be used for ...

What you need to know about changes to the Outside Activities Report form and Conflict of Interest

Using the OAR to steer your way through the compliance waters on campus just got easier. In fact, over the summer, upgrades were made to the UW–Madison Outside Activities Report (OAR) form. The changes not only make it easier to ensure that you are in compliance with campus policy, but also will save you time and ...

Recognizing a milestone in human embryonic stem cell research at UW–Madison

A recent story in the journal Nature called it a “revolution,” and it’s a revolution worth celebrating. Nov. 6, 2018 will mark the 20th anniversary of publication of “Embryonic Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Blastocysts.” The seminal paper, published in the journal Science, documented a breakthrough that occurred when researchers, led by James (Jamie) Thomson at the University ...

Finding that piece of research equipment just got easier

On June 20, the Directory of Resources for Researchers opened its virtual doors and in less than three months, the directory has grown to include more than 650 resources and services, with more being added all the time.

Supporting Our Graduate Students is Key to UW-Madison’s Research Success

With a new semester underway, it is worth pausing a moment to think about the importance of research at UW-Madison for our students and for the future of research. Participating in research is a hallmark of graduate education. UW-Madison’s graduate research ranges from scientific work in laboratories and the field, to archival scholarship, to technical and ...