UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee award Intercampus Research Grants

Eight hybrid teams of faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been awarded the first batch of Intercampus Research Incentive grants, awards designed to foster inter-institutional collaboration.

The awards, announced today by UW-Milwaukee and UW–Madison, total $398,000 and will support a suite of projects ranging from the development of new materials to combat air pollution to the use of algae to clean wastewater and generate energy. Each award is in the range of $50,000 for one year.

The Intercampus Research Incentive Grants Program, announced in January by UW–Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin and UW-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago, is an initiative to foster research projects and scholarship undertaken jointly by researchers at the two institutions.

The program is funded by UW–Madison and UW-Milwaukee donors. Projects were selected by a committee of faculty and administrators from both institutions.

“We received many excellent proposals, many more than we expected, and we’re excited by the quality and prospects for each of the projects that received funding,” says UW–Madison Provost Paul DeLuca. “Success here will not only yield valuable research results, but will also draw our institutions closer and provide a roadmap for future collaborations. That is a critical outcome.”

Colin Scanes, UW-Milwaukee Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development comments, “I was very impressed by the quality of the proposals and the new collaborations being developed between Madison and Milwaukee. This bodes so well for the future. It is unfortunate that only eight can be funded.”

Projects funded by the new initiative include:

• The use of algae for wastewater remediation and bioenergy production. Linda Graham, UW–Madison, and Erica Young, UW-Milwaukee.
• Synthesis and characterization of gold nanoparticles for cell-based therapies. Marija Gajdardziska and Julie Oliver, UW-Milwaukee, and Ralph Albrecht and Paul Voyles, UW–Madison.
• Enzymes as possible treatments for infections. Rob Striker, UW–Madison and Andrew Ulijasz, UW-Milwaukee.
• Nanoscale film sensors for use in advanced manufacturing. Xiaochun Li, UW–Madison and Chris Yuan, UW-Milwaukee.
• Laser-assisted cold gas spraying for energy manufacturing. Tien-Chien Jen, UW-Milwaukee and Frank Pfefferkorn, UW–Madison.
• Photocatalytic and superhydrophopic materials to combat air pollution. Marc Anderson, UW–Madison and Al Ghorbanpoor and Konstantin Sobolev, UW-Milwaukee.
• Improving detection and infrastructure to better treat diabetic retinopathy. Amir Assadi, F.M. Assadi-Porter and Nader Sheibani, UW–Madison and Hao Zhang, UW-Milwaukee.
• Psychological and neurological effects during fear conditioning in psychopathic offenders. John Curtin, Michael Koenigs and Joseph Newman, UW–Madison and Fred J. Helmstetter and Christinie Larson, UW-Milwaukee.