Research Moves Us Forward
Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison drives innovation, saves lives, creates jobs, supports small businesses, and fuels the industries that keep America competitive and secure. It makes the U.S.—and Wisconsin—stronger. Federal funding for research is a high-return investment that’s worth fighting for.
How is UW research making a difference?
Here are just some of the everyday ways that UW–Madison research, with federal funding, has improved and saved lives and made the U.S. stronger. Federally funded research at UW–Madison has led to:
Cancer diagnostics
Satellite meteorology
Organ transplants
Stem cells and regenerative medicine
A smart investment that pays off
Keeping the U.S. competitive globally
Research universities train the scientists, engineers, farmers, veterinarians, and doctors keeping the U.S. competitive—and leading—in innovation and discovery. Learn how UW–Madison is engineering next-generation batteries.
Protecting national security and energy independence
Research funding supports cutting-edge work tied directly to national defense and energy independence. Learn how UW–Madison is advancing America’s clean energy future.
Helping families and saving lives
Research leads to advancements in health and medicine, cures disease, and reduces healthcare costs. Find out how UW–Madison helps new mothers stay healthy during and after pregnancy.
Supporting farmers and industry
Land grant universities support the work of farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses. Explore how UW is helping farmers plan with better weather data.
Powering private sector progress
Research funding acts like a seed investment, reducing risk so private industry can turn basic science into real-world breakthroughs. Find out how UW researchers are turning plastic waste into high-value products.
Driving economic growth
Research delivers strong returns—creating jobs, launching startups, and driving industry. Together, UW–Madison and its affiliated startups contribute over $30.8 billion to the economy. Meet the UW alumn growing Wisconsin’s semiconductor industry.
Every $1 invested by the National Institutes of Health generates an estimated $2.56 in economic activity.
Research improves lives
Federally funded research at UW–Madison improves health, well-being, and national security. It drives invention, innovation, and job creation, and it helps prepare the next generation of scientists, engineers, creators, and business leaders.
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Progress on Alzheimer’s disease
Nathaniel Chin, faculty member and medical director of UW’s widely respected Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and of the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention, believes that future Alzheimer’s patients could receive a more hopeful prognosis. “We are on the trajectory for prevention,” he says.
REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
Opening the door for clinical trials to treat blindness
UW researchers take an important step toward treating degenerative eye disorders like glaucoma with lab-grown retina tissue.
AGRICULTURE
Engineering innovation could help boost crop yields and save farmers money
Current methods for monitoring nitrate in soil are laborious, expensive, and don’t give real-time data. That’s why UW researchers invented a better way, both for soil health and for farmers’ bottom line.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
With Navy boost, UW engineers are working to prevent traumatic brain injuries
A team of academic and industry partners are searching for new ways to detect brain injuries and prevent them in the first place for the health of U.S. service members and the public.
What happens if there’s less federal funding?
Here’s what we lose as a nation when UW’s federal funding is disrupted:
Fewer medical breakthroughs
Loss of talent to other countries
Job loss and slower economic growth
Reduced competitiveness in AI, biotech, clean energy, and national security
Example of what’s at stake: NIH funding for UW research
A proposed federal cap on funding from the National Institutes of Health could have major consequences for universities like UW–Madison. Campus research leaders explain how cuts to research-supporting indirect costs threatens innovation, slows scientific progress, and limits breakthroughs in areas like Alzheimer’s treatment. Learn how these changes could affect UW’s research enterprise and the broader scientific community.
Meet the people behind the research
METABOLISM
Katherine Overmyer
Katie Overmyer leads research that’s uncovering insights into diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s.
Foundations of biology
Peter Ducos
Grad student Peter Ducos is studying viruses and bacteria to reveal how they operate.
EPILEPSY
Barry Gidal
Barry Gidal, a nationally recognized leader in epilepsy research, is driving progress in treatment and patient advocacy.
What makes discovery and innovation possible at UW–Madison?
Research universities like UW–Madison are part of what makes America great. The decades-long compact between the federal government and universities has sparked incredible innovations and made us the envy of the globe. Research universities take on the risks of basic discoveries that become the spin-off companies and cures of tomorrow. They’re where students gain the skills, knowledge, and opportunities that prepare them to be next-generation leaders. Research universities are smart investments that pay off.
One way the federal government supports research—indeed, how it has done so for decades— is to fund individual projects and institutions with grants through a highly competitive grant application process. This funding supports direct expenses like staff salaries, graduate student stipends, and supplies. It also supports indirect costs, which include everything from large, shared scientific equipment, to laboratory and facility construction costs, data infrastructure costs, utilities, the costs of administering grants appropriately, and the often-considerable expense of complying with federal rules and regulations surrounding research.
These so-called “indirect costs” aren’t optional expenses. They are a substantial and absolutely fundamental part of innovative science. As is the case while running a household, families need both money to buy groceries (direct) and the financial resources to keep a working refrigerator and electricity (indirect) to store milk and eggs.
Federal funding accounts for one quarter of UW–Madison’s annual budget.
UW–Madison, UW-affiliated organizations and UW-related startups contribute $30.8 billion per year to the state’s economy. This economic activity supports more than 232,000 jobs and generates $1 billion in state and local taxes. It has also led to the creation of more than 400 UW-related startup companies in Wisconsin that help improve lives. These companies are tackling everything from blindness to improved survival rates for surgery patients.
