Research Fellows Program
Overview: The UWM Research Foundation's Research Fellows Program is designed to help UWM researchers attract and retain the best and brightest research assistants and post-doctoral researchers to improve the scientific productivity of their research efforts. The program is open to researchers in the sciences, engineering and business. In structuring this program, the Research Foundation seeks to have a significant impact on the research program of principal investigators by helping them attract top talent who can work independently, come up to speed quickly and impact the outcome of their research program.
The program will award $5,000 per year for two years in funds for an individual research assistant or $7,500 for one year for a post-doctoral researcher. To date, the program has awarded a total of $200,000 in three phases. The program has awarded 22 post-doctoral researchers and graduate students.
Application and Award Process: The objective of the Research Fellows program is to help principal investigators recruit graduate students for their research program who can have a significant impact. All funds will be paid directly to the graduate student or post doctoral researcher. However to ensure fairness across disciplines where recruitment may take place at different times and to ensure that the fellowship is a meaningful recruitment tool, awards willl be made to a "Sponsoring Principal Investigator" (Sponsoring PI) who can use the fellowship as a recruitment tool, subject only to final approval of the candidate by the Research Foundation.
The program will solicit applications from Sponsoring PI's who will be asked to demonstrate a record of scientific achievement for their research program and a need for funds to attract top candidates. Successful applicants will demonstrate how a Research Fellow award will significantly impact a) their ability to attract top talent, b) the outcomes of their research program - in grant applications, grant awards and publications, and/or c) potential commercialization of their research.
These awards are intended to be over and above other support, and the Sponsoring PI must demonstrate at least one year of base support for the RA or post doctoral fellow. RA awards will be committed for two years; however, the sponsoring PI must demonstrate base funding in the second year before year two funds will be awarded.
A UWMRF Research Fellowship Committee with the support from the Vice Chancellor for Research will review all qualifying applications from Sponsoring PI's and make awards based on the merit of the Sponsoring PI. The committee will include the Research Foundation staff and at least one outside reviewer. Awards to particular research assistants or post doctoral fellows will be subject to final review by the Research Fellowship Committee to ensure that the merit of the candidate justifies the fellowship award.
Sponsoring PI Qualification Criteria: All applications will be screened for initial qualification criteria upon receipt of proposals.
- Funds must be for Research Assistant (with 50% support) or Post-Doctoral Researcher
- Fellowships are for new or existing RAs or Post-Docs
- Sponsoring PI must demonstrate base funding for applicant Fellow (ensured for 1 year for a Research Assistant or 1 year for a post-doctoral fellow)
- Research program of the Sponsoring PI must be in the sciences or engineering
Sponsoring PI Merit Review: Selection Committee will select applications based on merit critera.
- Ability of the Research Fellow award to impact the outcomes of the Sponsoring PI's research program
- Research program of the Sponsoring PI - including both the scientific quality as well as alignment with Research Foundation objectives of commercialization, corporate partnerships and the development of intellectual property.
- Recruitment - Quality of recruitment effort and likelihood of attracting high caliber graduate students and post docs
- Ability to leverage other sources of funding - including federal grants, RGI funding, Catalyst Grants, corporate sponsorship, and other sources
- Need for funds - including discipline specific data showing disparity between base funding and norms for the area of study
- Ability to influence key outcomes including proposals generated by lab, papers, increase in funding, generation of intellectual property
Applicant Fellow Merit Review: Selection Committee will select applications based on merit critera.
- Research Fellow awards proposed by the Sponsoring PI are subject to final review and approval by the Research Foundation.