Research Cores Initiative helps replace workhorses and enhance cores services across campus

Twelve projects, ranging from keyboard instruments and equipment needed to rescue and preserve deteriorating films to upgraded fluorescent microscopes for high resolution imaging of cells and their surfaces, have been chosen for funding through the second round of the Research Core Revitalization Program (RCRP).

These projects were among 23 proposals submitted from four schools/colleges and three centers across campus.

Cores are unique spaces where researchers are exposed to new ideas, instrumentation, and services and where they can consult with technical experts to advance their research programs.

“Shared instruments, equipment and other resources play a critical role in the UW–Madison research enterprise and typically have a limited lifespan,” explains Ryan Pingel, interim director of the Office of Research Cores. “Although essential and highly used, these critical resources also may not be eligible or competitive for federal and other external grant programs targeting new capabilities and technologies. The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education has sponsored the RCRP to help fill some of those funding gaps.”

“The great interest in and diverse responses to the RCRP demonstrates that our campus cores are indispensable for supporting collaborative and cutting-edge research. Although cores are common in the biological sciences, they are also critical to other disciplines, including the physical sciences, arts & humanities, and social sciences,” says Cynthia Czajkowkski, associate vice chancellor for research in the biological sciences. “We know that researchers across campus depend on our cores – in fact, some core facilities are not just useful, but essential – and reinvestment in these capabilities ensures continuity and productivity of our research enterprise.“

The RCRP was launched in fall 2019 and was a highly successful competition. Seventeen projects across six schools and colleges were awarded funding in round one.

The RCRP is supported by an investment from the OVCRGE and with support from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Each award is the range of up to $500,000 for direct costs.

To learn more about the projects that have been chose in round two, visit https://research.wisc.edu/funding/research-core-revitalization-program-2/