By Natasha Kassulke, UW-Madison
After six rounds of funding, the UW2020: WARF Discovery Initiative has been retired. The name necessitated the move, as much as anything.
It will be replaced by Research Forward, whose inaugural round funds 11 grant projects chosen out of 89 submitted from across campus.
FY20 was the last year of the UW2020 awards. Launched in fall 2015, the initiative drew innovative and multidisciplinary research from across the campus and spurred many extramural projects as well. More than $110M in new extramural support was related to UW2020 projects over the past few years.
The final round of UW2020 brought the total number of UW2020 projects to 95. Funded project teams have included 405 faculty, more than 100 graduate students, and academic staff investigators from many schools, colleges, and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education research centers.
“UW2020 lived up to and exceeded our expectations for success,” says Steve Ackerman, vice chancellor for research and graduate education, “With Research Forward, we wanted to build on that success and sponsor a new initiative that would continue to position our faculty to be even more successful as they apply for extramural funding in an increasingly competitive environment.”
The Research Forward initiative is supported by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and will provide funding for 1–2 years, depending on the needs and scope of the project. Read more …