Research News
April 16, 2008
Grants Project completed
UWM Staff and Faculty,
With your help, we have completed the transition to PeopleSoft Grants. After a nearly two year conversion process, the entire grant lifecycle is now managed by one central system. From proposal development to award closeout, any stage in the grants process can be viewed and tracked online. This upgrade is particularly timely because UW Milwaukee now receives over $32 million in research funding on a yearly basis.
This implementation presented several challenges to the UWM project team working with its partners (UW-System, UW-Madison, UW-Extension, and Huron Consulting) to bring this system online. Here at UWM, there was a large amount of information on current projects that needed to be converted as accurately and completely as possible. They also needed to integrate across the functional areas of proposal submission, post-award accounting, and our business and financial systems. Despite the many requirements of this large scale conversion, PeopleSoft went live on schedule on February 25. There are a number of successes to celebrate about this project.
Most notably, the PeopleSoft Grants implementation was on time and under budget. This is the first large scale, system-wide implementation that has been completed on time at the University of Wisconsin. The conversion was completed within the scheduled time window (February 8-25). During this time, all (100%) 920 projects were successfully converted into PeopleSoft Grants. Communication to the campus prior to system shutdown effectively kept campus community aware of pre-shutdown timeline, such as last days to enter new awards, issue checks and submit P-card transactions.
Other noteworthy accomplishments during this transition occurred across the full lifecycle of grant activity:
- WISPER, an electronic routing system for proposal and other research-related documents, was implemented to replace the previous paper transmittal form.
- Communication to each school and college on WISPER allowed deans/administrators to adapt WISPER to its own business processes.
- Data entered in WISPER flows seamlessly into the PeopleSoft Grants management system when an award is received, incorporating enhanced award and budget tracking information into Post-Award processes.
- With the new WISDM enhancements for grants, we rolled out grants-centric reporting interface designed with input from PIs, administrators, and other users to provide centralized reporting for grants with one on-line interface to view award information such as financial transactions, award terms and conditions, funding actions, and cost share.
- Accounting Services was able to streamline a number of processes, enabling some transactions to be posted daily, thereby improving grant financial monitoring and reporting. The Graduate School and Business and Financial Services continue to work together and with the campus community to evaluate, review and improve grant management processes.
For further information on these changes, please visit our Web site (http://www.graduateschool.uwm.edu/research/rsa/grants-management) or send e-mail to grants-project@uwm.edu.
You will find various reference documents and Webcasts on the new systems at http://www.graduateschool.uwm.edu/research/rsa/grants-management/wisper/.
Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Christy Brown, Interim Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administrative Affairs
Colin Scanes, Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate School
Rita Cheng, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
March 26, 2008
RGI Awards Announced for 2008-2009
Thirty-one proposals have been chosen for funding in the 2008-2009 Research Growth Initiative, an internal seed-funding competition aimed at enhancing the university's research and scholarly work and supporting the state's economic development through innovation.
The winners were chosen from the original pool of 137 by independent review panels consisting of experts and scholars from prominent U.S. research institutions.
The projects are drawn from a wide variety of disciplines, from biological sciences, engineering, and physics, to History and French, Italian, and Comparative Literature.
View the list of winning projects.
February 28, 2008
Call for nominations—Graduate School/UWM Foundation Research Awards
From Colin Scanes, Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development and Dean of the Graduate School
We are pleased to announce that the UWM Foundation will again provide awards to recognize outstanding research and creative activity. This is the 30th year that the Foundation has provided support for this purpose.
These awards have been established to recognize and encourage UWM assistant and associate professors who have shown the potential to achieve distinction in their academic disciplines through scholarship, creative activity, and the dissemination of knowledge. The awards are not intended to recognize established faculty members who already have achieved distinction in their disciplines. Restrictions include:
- Previous research awardees are ineligible.
- Individuals holding the title of Distinguished or Wisconsin Distinguished Professor are ineligible.
- One individual may be nominated from a single department or program.
The Committee of UWM Distinguished Professors will review the nominations and make recommendations to the Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development, and Dean of the Graduate School for the final selections. The individuals selected as recipients will receive a cash award and will be honored at the UWM Awards Ceremony in the fall of 2008.
We encourage you to consider nominating a member of your department/program for an award. In addition to providing a means of honoring outstanding scholars, these awards recognize our collective commitment to academic research and to the importance of UWM's research mission.
Please send nominations to Vicky Everson, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development, and Dean of the Graduate School, 320 Chapman Hall, by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 18, 2008. The nomination materials should include a letter of nomination, two letters of support, and an updated vitae. You may secure letters of support from UWM faculty members or from colleagues outside UWM. If you submit or quote from confidential letters written for another purpose, you must secure the permission of the author(s) prior to doing so.
Graduate School/UWM Foundation Research Awards Web page
January 14, 2008
Three grants awarded under Catalyst advanced automation program
By Peter Hansen
The UWM Research Foundation will fund three research projects in 2008 under the Catalyst Grant Program in Advanced Automation.
The $170,000 in Catalyst program funds are part of the five-year, $1 million gift to UWM from Rockwell Automation announced in January 2007. Rockwell envisions the gift as a first step toward a technology research program at UWM that will bolster the region's manufacturing industry.
"We had a difficult job in selecting just three," says UWM Research Foundation President Brian Thompson, noting that external reviewers ranked two thirds of the 15 proposals among the top 10 percent nationally. "I believe these funded proposals strongly represent the three focus areas that Rockwell identified."
Advanced Materials: Professor Carolyn Aita
Smart Nanostructure Ceramic Coatings for Corrosion Protection of Electronic Components
Aita's work is aimed at preventing a particular kind of corrosion in four types of steel important to electronic and electromechanical components used for automation and control systems. Her use of a smart nanolaminate coating to inhibit pitting corrosion addresses one of the key challenges identified by the Rockwell technical team.
Aita's work could also benefit other area companies, including Harley-Davidson, Kohler, and Badger Meter. Aita suggests that these firms will form the basis for a local "corrosion consortium."
Sensors and Devices: Assistant Professor Junhong Chen
Novel Hybrid Nanomaterials and Their Application for Miniaturized Gas/Vapor Sensors
Chen's work involves the development of a nanoscale gas sensor that combines and improves upon two existing sensor technologies.
Miniaturized sensors that rapidly and accurately detect and differentiate trace amount of gases or their mixtures are attractive for many applications, such as environmental monitoring, medical diagnosis, food processing, and control of other industrial processes.
Chen's proposed hybrid combines nanocrystal-based sensors and carbon nanotube sensors, two technologies on which his research group has already worked extensively.
Software and Manufacturing Informatics: Professor Fatemeh Zahedi
Developing Strategy-to-Data Ontology for Enterprise Strategy Support System
Advances in automation and computational capabilities in manufacturing industries has resulted in massive collection of data, including shop floor operational data, business transactions data, and data extracted from environmental scanning.
"The wealth of available data has rarely translated into knowledge required to articulate strategies at top levels of the decision hierarchy," Zahedi observes, and her ambitious manufacturing informatics project addresses the challenging question of connecting the "shop floor" with the "top floor."
Rockwell is also supporting the manufacturing informatics work of Professor Hemant Jain, and Thompson predicts that these projects will strengthen a core area of expertise at UWM.
In addition to bolstering UWM's advanced automation research, long-term objectives of the Catalyst program include strengthening regional corporate partnerships, promoting collaborative research, and creating internship and employment opportunities for UWM students and graduates.
The Research Foundation continues to seek support from other regional companies to expand the program.
Modeled on the University's successful Research Growth Initiative, the Catalyst Grant Program employed an external scientific review panel to judge the scientific merit of proposals, as well as a program review committee in the Research Foundation to ensure that proposals met the intent of the program objectives, including the intent of the donors.
September 24, 2007
Effort Reporting: UWM Administration Message
Dear UWM Faculty and Staff Researchers,
As leaders of a major urban research university, we greatly appreciate the important stewardship responsibilities associated with managing extramural funds. These responsibilities include complying with federal requirements to certify faculty and staff effort on sponsored projects.
Effort certification is our means of assuring sponsors that:
- the salaries charged to the sponsor are reasonable in relation to the work performed, and
- faculty and staff have met their commitments to externally funded projects.
Currently, effort certification is a subject of intense scrutiny by federal auditors. Although effort certification is sometimes viewed as an undue administrative burden, failing to seriously address requirements may jeopardize the university's federal research funding.
To ease the administrative burden, the university is launching a new Web-based information system for certifying effort. This fall, the university will provide training for faculty and staff, as well as for the effort coordinators who will assist with the certification process.
Because success in the effort realm results from attention to a number of issues throughout a sponsored project's life cycle, the training will address both effort certification and how to manage effort from the proposal phase through award closeout.
Faculty and staff members on our Effort Project Steering Committee, along with the Research Policy Committee, have provided input regarding the new system, the university's updated policies and the training programs, including a Web-based training option. Training for researchers will begin in November; all faculty and academic staff who work on sponsored projects are expected to complete the training by January 31, 2008. More information about effort certification and the new system will be coming your way during the next several months.
When the new system debuts in the fall, please familiarize yourself with both the system and the university guidelines regarding effort commitments and certification. We recognize the transition to the new system requires an investment of your valuable time and attention, and we appreciate your making this investment to enhance the university's status as a premier research institution.
If you have questions in the meantime, please contact your dean's office or Dave Harris in the Graduate School at extension 5667 or dnh@uwm.edu.
Thank you,
Carlos E. Santiago
Chancellor
Rita Cheng
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Colin Scanes
Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development and Dean of the Graduate School
John R. Johnson
Chair of the university Committee and Professor of Communication
Tracy Moraine
Chair, Academic Staff Senate and Clinical Instructor, College of Health Sciences
September 20, 2007
UWM Research Funding Hits Another Record in 2006-'07
UWM faculty and staff attracted a record $33.8 million in external research funding in the 2006-'07 fiscal year, a 31 percent increase from the old record set the previous year.
Increasing UWM's research funding has been a top priority for Chancellor Carlos Santiago since his arrival on campus in 2004.
The record comes less than two years after launch of his Research Growth Initiative, a program that provides seed funding for research projects considered likely to attract and sustain external funding.
The total extramural funding of $67.9 million, which also includes instructional as well as extension and public service funds, marks an 8.5 percent increase from 2005-'06 and a 5.9 percent increase from the previous record set in 2003-'04.
July 17, 2007
Board of Regents designates UWM Research Foundation as manager of UWM's intellectual property
The UW System Board of Regents on Friday designated the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation to manage UWM's intellectual property.
"This is a critical step forward to fulfill our research mission," said Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago. "The UWM Research Foundation will provide us with the flexibility to manage our intellectual property in ways that are most beneficial to UWM, its faculty and staff, and the economic vitality of the region."
The action by the Board of Regents came in two steps.
Regents approved a resolution designating the UWM Research Foundation as the intellectual property management organization for UWM.
It also approved a resolution to allow UWM to withdraw from the WiSys Technology Foundation Inc., the organization that promotes scientific investigation and research at all UW System universities except the University of Wisconsin-Madison. WiSys is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), which supports scientific research at UW-Madison. Regents also brought to an end the pilot-project phase of WiSys.
Both resolutions were unanimously approved.
"The interim WiSys agreement and support from WARF helped UWM reach a point where it can address the commercialization of university technology and manage its own intellectual property," said Santiago.
"We are very grateful for the operational expertise that was shared with us and hope the UWM Research Foundation will have the same tremendous impact on the Milwaukee region that WARF is having on Madison."
UW System President Kevin Reilly offered his strong support of the UWM proposal, and reiterated that the change would not affect the operation of WiSys with other campuses. "Both WARF and UW System are 100% committed to WiSys providing all necessary tech-transfer activities for the remaining campuses," said Reilly.
The UWM Research Foundation was launched in 2006 with strong support from corporate partners including We Energies, Harley-Davidson and Rockwell Automation. The foundation is building its capabilities in patenting and licensing and is working closely with the University and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research to ensure alignment with the University's research agenda.
The law firm of Michael Best & Friedrich, which has extensive experience in the field of intellectual property and technology commercialization, will provide legal services to the UWM Research Foundation.
"The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation is off to a great start, with more than $3 million in initial funding," said John Torinus, UWM Research Foundation Chairman and CEO of Serigraph Inc., West Bend.
"The decision by the Board of Regents will allow UWM to shape its own destination in the world of research and technology transfer. We believe that we can increase the number of patents, licenses and business start-ups if we have local energy behind the development of UWM's intellectual capital."
Brian Thompson, UWM Research Foundation President, further elaborated on advantages for UWM that will result from the action by the Board of Regents:
- Flexibility—Local control of the UWM Research Foundation gives UWM the flexibility to tailor its licensing programs to specifically meet UWM's needs. UWM seeks to build its research program, in part by reaching out to local corporate partners.
- Focus—The UWM Research Foundation is solely focused on UW-Milwaukee. The Research Foundation Board of Directors and staff leadership are focused on supporting the objectives set forth by Chancellor Santiago. Given UWM's aggressive objectives, this sort of focus is essential to helping UWM achieve its goals.
- Incentives—The UWM Research Foundation measures its success broadly, not simply measuring success by license revenue, but also including measures such as sponsored research projects and impact on the region's economy.
- Economic impact on UWM—The UWM Research Foundation will allow all of the revenue generated from licenses to accrue to the inventors or the campus. Previously, 40% was allocated to WiSys. This will now go to the UWM Research Foundation, and will help support programs such as the catalyst grant program, fellowship programs and other programs aimed at fostering UWM's research mission.
- Economic impact on the region—The UWM Research Foundation and UWM believe they have an important role to play in local economic development. Where possible, preference for licensing will be given to companies in the region such that high technology and advanced manufacturing jobs will be created or retained in Wisconsin. The UWM Research Foundation will actively encourage start-up companies based on University research.
For more information:
Contact:
- Brian Thompson, President, UWM Research Foundation Inc. (briant@uwm.edu or (414) 229-3397).
On the Web:
June 17, 2007
Scanes Named Vice Chancellor and Graduate School Dean
Colin Scanes has been named Vice Chancellor for Research & Economic Development and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Scanes, who currently serves as Assistant to the President for Economic Development at Mississippi State University, will assume his new duties on July 1.
"We are extremely pleased to add Colin to our management team," said Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago. "He comes to us with an outstanding record as both a research scientist and academic administrator. His extensive experience directing a broad array of research initiatives makes him the ideal candidate to lead UWM's efforts to greatly expand its funded research activities." According to Santiago, "Colin will also help UWM build its strong relationships with area businesses as part of the university's program to promote regional economic development."
Scanes received his degrees in Biological Chemistry and Zoology in the United Kingdom at Hull University and the University of Wales. Previously Scanes served as Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Mississippi State University and Executive Associate Dean at Iowa State University. He has also served on the faculty at Rutgers University. His curriculum vitae is online at http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SecU/VCR_Search/resumes/Scanes.pdf.