For UW students, faculty and alumni, the 1999-2000 school year will always bring back memories of the Badger men's basketball team's stunning run to the Final Four, and national prominence. Few may know that UW-Madison had a tremendous year off the court, joining a national elite in the field of research, where success is measured not in wins, but dollars.
During the 1999-'00 school year, UW-Madison ranked second among U.S. universities in terms of research dollars spent. This \final four"", in terms of millions of dollars spent, consisted of Johns Hopkins ($901), UW-Madison ($554), the University of Michigan ($552), and the University of Washington ($529). In 2000-2001, UW-Madison researchers nearly topped that mark, gaining another $509 million in extramural grants, and the future continues to look bright. As of January 2002, UW-Madison had a projected $15 million (4 percent) budget increase over 2001.
Martin Cadwallader, interim dean of UW-Madison's Graduate School, said the University's recent rise in gaining funding dollars was quite pleasing, but, unlike the school's recent run to the Final Four, came as no surprise.
""We have a critical mass of excellent faculty and academic staff that attracts some of these grants, and graduate students as well-it's a team effort across the board,"" Cadwallader said. ""All of the time our faculty are putting in proposals for grants for their various competitions, and we just have a very good success rate, and that's how the dollars build up. We started 75 years ago, and it takes time to build up something of that level.""
Cadwallader noted that one of the main advantages that UW-Madison has over other national colleges and universities is its extensive and experienced support systems, such as the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP).
The UW-Madison Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) has played a significant role in UW's recent funding success. According to the university, the role of the RSP is to 'administer grants and contracts for sponsored university research. RSP reviews grants and contract documents to assure that the disposition of intellectual property complies with any federal requirements and University policy.'
Bill Vance, assistant dean of the UW-Madison Graduate School, works with RSP to help support and regulate proposals and research projects. ""We are the transmitting office for all grad applications, so once they've been originated from faculty or staff through the department chair or dean they come to Research and Sponsored Programs we review them and then submit them to the sponsor, federal and non-federal,"" Vance said.
WARF is a nonprofit corporation organized in 1925 by UW-Madison alumni and faculty. Its stated mission is to 'support scientific research at UW-Madison by moving inventions arising from the university's laboratories to the marketplace for the benefit of the university, the inventors and society well as assisting university faculty, students and staff in protecting and commercially marketing their intellectual property.'
Andy Cohn, WARF's government and public relations manager, said the organization provides a crucial link between UW researchers and world markets.
""If somebody has what they think is an invention that may be commercially viable, we help them 'disclose' their invention,"" Cohn said. ""It's totally confidential'we ask what the invention does, when they discovered it, what would be the benefits to society and what might be its commercial applications.""
According to Cohn, practical aspects will dictate whether a project will be approved.
""WARF decides, not whether it's a good invention or not, but whether it's protectable, whether we can get a copyright or a patent or a trademark, and whether it is commercially viable,"" Cohn said.
In 1927, WARF granted its first license for the vitamin D supplementation of its breakfast cereals and currently releases over 100 patents annually, including patents for magnetic resonance imaging and the life-saving solution that organs are stored in during transit from donor to recipient. Of course, the latest is from UW-Madison researcher James Thomson, the first scientist to isolate human embryonic stem cells in 1998. Cohn said the synergy between WARF and UW researchers has provided great benefits for all.
Most of these have returned a good deal of money to WARF, and therefore the university,"" Cohn said. ""So far, at least, the benefit of the stem cells has been for the benefit and research of mankind; it hasn't been around long enough to have a financial payoff.""
WARF policies call for 20 percent of the net proceeds from the patent to be returned to the inventor, with the balance shared among the graduate school, the inventor's department and other research support. WARF earmarks its earnings to fund additional on-campus research, totaling about $600 million, including buildings, land and equipment.
""The great science that is done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison makes WARF's job inspiring. We couldn't do our job without the great researchers and great scientists that have been attracted by the university,"" Cohn said. ""It's a very positive relationship, both for the university and for WARF. Our mission is to support the fine research that goes on at the University of Wisconsin, and we take a lot of pride in doing that.""
Vance credits UW's funding success to many decades of groundwork that built the institution's reputation, and sees UW's funding status as a win-win situation for the university, faculty researchers and students.
""We've always had excellent faculty and a reputation of doing good research. It's a combination of faculty being experts at what they are doing, bringing the funds in and having good stewardship over them.\
