Fall Research Competition opens with advice from previous recipients

A new round of the Fall Research Competition (FRC) has opened. Applications are accepted until Sept. 6, 2024 at 4:30 p.m. Funds are selected for research projects across each research division — biological sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, and the arts and humanities.

The FRC, administered by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR), is available because of the impressive efforts of UW–Madison faculty and staff in filing successful patents through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), and the generous support of WARF.

“The Fall Research Competition is an unique UW–Madison award,” says Cynthia Czajkowski, interim vice chancellor for research. “FRC plays an important part in our success in recruiting early career faculty. It supports graduate student training and provides funding that allows researchers to generate data necessary to create stronger extramural proposals.”

Faculty members and permanent principal investigators (PI) may submit one application to the standard competition. This submission may be either individual or involve collaboration with another faculty member or permanent PI. Applicants will be notified of the outcome in December. The application and instructions are available at: https://research.wisc.edu/funding/fall-competition/ .

Michael Cahill, assistant professor in the Department of Comparative Biosciences

Cahill received a FRC for his project centered around determining the impact of the hyper-expression of a protein, PDZ-RhoGEF, in the prefrontal cortex of mice on the stability of synapses and on neuronal engagement. His interest in this protein and its functions stemmed from his research group’s identification of increased expression of PDZ-RhoGEF in the prefrontal cortex of subjects with bipolar disorder.

“Broadly speaking, our interest is in determining if reproducing this specific increase in PDZ-RhoGEF is sufficient to cause bipolar disorder-relevant phenotypes,” Cahill explains.

Cahill used the FRC award as bridge funding in the event that his recently submitted R01 was not funded.

“As I found out a few months later, my NIH R01 just missed the funding cutoff, but fortunately I did receive FRC funding,” Cahill explains. “In fact, when I submitted my application, I used it as ‘insurance’ in the event that I did not receive my R01. It is important to remember that the overall goal of the FRC is to support projects that lead to successful external funding. The FRC award can also be used to generate new pilot data, but again, the goal is to use this pilot data for future external grant submissions. Given these overall goals, I believe that indicating how your application relates to ongoing or future external funding is of utmost importance.”

Cahill’s advice for crafting experimental aims for the FRC includes remembering that that this is a one-year award.

“The FRC funds were of great use for my research team as my next NIH R01 submission was funded,” Cahill adds. “Undoubtedly, the FRC award enabled me to generate additional key preliminary data for my R01 application that strengthened the application.”

Devin Kennedy, professor in the Integrated Liberal Studies Program and assistant professor of history and history of science

“I’m a historian of science and technology, writing a book about computer technology in U.S. industry after World War II and business influence on computer science as an academic field,” Kennedy explains. “I have been working on my book since I arrived at UW–Madison in 2020, and I set a deadline for myself of finishing the book before the end of 2023, anticipating that I would want time to share the manuscript with senior colleagues and receive feedback in a manuscript workshop.”

The FRC provided summer salary for Kennedy to focus on the book during the final push. It paid off. Kennedy completed three chapters—about 100 pages of text—while on FRC support.

“It was a great process to work with the evaluators from the FRC—they were genuinely curious about what my work was about, and interested in learning what was needed to make it successful,” Kennedy says. “Most challenging in the application process was coming up with ways to introduce my project and its significance to reviewers who might have no prior knowledge of the topic, historical methods, or even what sorts of projects historians of science pursue. Figuring out how to frame my project for the broadest possible audience turned out to be very helpful for me in developing other grant applications.”

In fall 2023, Kennedy was honored to be one of the University’s nominees for the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend fellowship. Kennedy says the OCVR’s support of Summer Stipend applications was a significant factor in his decision to apply. In 2024, Kennedy learned that he had received one of the awards from the NEH.

“My proposal built on the timeline for publishing my book that I had first developed for the FRC,” Kennedy says. “I structured the application around the expectation that I’d be done with the manuscript and embarking on critical revisions to prepare it for publication during the summer of 2024. It was invaluable to have had the experience of going through the FRC before applying to the NEH—I think it helped me clarify how to speak about my project and how it would be accomplished over a specific timeline.”

Tawandra L. Rowell-Cunsolo, assistant professor for social work

In September 2020, Rowell-Cunsolo received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program to examine the collateral consequences of involvement with the criminal legal system (CLS).

“My collaborators and I partnered with the Citizens for Police Reform to collect surveys on public safety and legal system engagement in Central Brooklyn, New York City,” she recalls. “Funds from the FRC enabled me to fund a project assistant (PA) to assist with data analysis and dissemination efforts.”

Survey findings from approximately 200 Black Central Brooklyn residents in the study indicated that indirect (i.e., observing police violence, knowing someone who has experienced incarceration, etc.) and direct (i.e., experiencing arrest and/or incarceration, assault by police officers, etc.) exposure to the CLS was widespread; these exposures were significantly associated with poor self-reported health and mental health-related challenges.

These findings informed a subsequent grant application, “Identifying health disparities and risk for aging-related conditions among individuals exposed to the legal system,” to extend this line of research.

Rowell-Cunsolo’s advice for future applicants is first: make sure that the project is feasible.

“My research typically involves administering surveys to vulnerable populations, including those who have experienced incarceration,” Rowell-Cunsolo says. “One year would not be enough time to initiate a project that requires more extensive Institutional Review Board monitoring and a lengthier approval process.”

Instead, Rowell-Cunsolo opted to hire a PA to work on an existing study that would provide an opportunity to acquire research skills and learn how to communicate research findings to external funders.

“Additionally,” Rowell-Cunsolo says, “think about how this funding opportunity could be used to best support your long-term research agenda. The more evidence I gather, the more information I am equipped with to design interventions that are responsive to the needs of this population. Finally, do not be discouraged if your application is not successful on the first submission—there will be another opportunity to apply next year!”

For Assistance in Completing the FRC Application 

Questions about the application?
competitions@research.wisc.edu or 608-262-8386

Having technical difficulties?
vcrge-it@lists.wisc.edu

By Natasha Kassulke, natasha.kassulke@wisc.edu

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