Important updates regarding sponsored grant proposals, awards, and compliance

August 20, 2026

Office of Sponsored Programs

Office of Research Development Services

Office of Undergraduate Research

Dr. Ali Abedi,
Vice Chancellor for
Research

Dear Members of the UWM Community,

Research activities and accomplishments continue to thrive at UWM this summer. From undergraduate student events to grant proposal submissions and new collaborations, our faculty and staff have been very busy advancing research in their respective fields and across the university, and I'm pleased to share their accomplishments below with you. As summer comes to a close and we shift our thoughts to autumn, I wish you a successful and productive fall semester.

I'm pleased to welcome Joel Fogelson to the Division of Research as UWM's Strategic Innovation & Partnership Officer. In this role, Joel will oversee our strategic partnerships activities to deepen current partnerships and broaden our portfolio by adding new partners, thus promoting innovation and research in a cohesive manner. 

Joel is an experienced attorney who has been involved in founding and advising several startups in the healthcare IT and entertainment spaces, which later achieved successful exits. He has a demonstrated history of working in patent law, management, licensing, and product development. Prior to joining UWM, Joel was firm counsel at Hartmans Law in Manhattan Beach, CA, where he advised startups on intellectual property, business law, and emerging issues related to artificial intelligence. Joel has a law degree from the University of Miami School of Law, a B.S. in Electrical and Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.A. in Economics and International Studies from Northwestern University.

Launched in spring of this year, our internal Faculty-Industry Partnership Seed Grant (FIPS) program is showing a strong return on investment. I'm excited to announce that Dr. Xinyi Shen (School of Freshwater Sciences) received a $1M NASA INNOVATE grant that grew out of his FIPS-supported work and industry partnerships. The NASA award funds high-risk, high-reward projects that rapidly advance Earth satellite observations and models for societal, economic, and national security benefits. Congratulations, Dr. Shen!

The latest AI-generated Research Matters podcast is posted on the Division of Research website. The Hidden Science of Price Tags, featuring the work of Dr. Zuhui Xiao (Lubar College of Business), discusses Xiao's new research on class pricing and the psychology of consumer decision-making. Her recent study suggests that loss aversion and price comparisons can make fewer price points more effective than highly customized pricing, even with modern AI tools.

If you'd like to profile your research through an AI-generated podcast, complete this intake form and upload a PDF of your published article or summary of exhibitions, performances, and other products to include them in our production queue. Questions can be directed to Melissa Burnett. 

In July, UWM submitted 11 proposals to NSF's prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) program—the most in nearly a decade! I extend my best wishes to our faculty applicants for success on their proposals.

I'm also excited to announce that Dr. William Musinski (Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering) received a CAREER award for his application submitted in 2025. His project is uncovering how tiny cracks form and grow in materials at the microscopic level, creating powerful new tools leading to safer, longer lasting, and more efficient metals, and strengthening the materials workforce pipeline by engaging students at various levels in engineering and materials science. Congratulations, Dr. Musinski!

I'm pleased to announce the following recent staff accomplishments, which reflect their dedication and commitment to their professions and to advancing research at UWM:

Dr. Pamela E. Harris, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, received the 2027
M. Gweneth Humphreys Award from the Association for Women in Mathematics. The Award recognizes Dr. Harris's deep dedication to mentoring and her extensive contributions to broadening inclusivity in the mathematics community. 

Jeremy Miner, Associate Director of Pre-Award Administration, received the Julia Jacobsen Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA). This award recognizes Jeremy's sustained and distinctive contributions to the organization over many years.

Kyla Esguerra, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, has been elected as a Division Representative for the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR). The election reflects Kyla's demonstrated leadership, dedication to undergraduate research, and commitment to fostering community within CUR. 

Anne Kissack, Office of Research Development Services, has been selected to serve on the Statewide Assistive Technology Advisory Council for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The Council provides consumer-driven guidance, oversight, and evaluation for state assistive technology programs, helping people with disabilities gain better access to vital devices and services.

Congratulations, Pamela, Jeremy, Kyla, and Anne!

Please contact us with your suggestions to help us better support you and your teams. 

The Division of Research is pleased to announce the competitions for the internal Discovery Innovation Grant (DIG) and Advancing Research & Creativity Grant (ARC) will open in September. Proposals will be externally reviewed, and funding will commence in July 2027. We will inform the campus community when the new RFPs are posted. The Research Assistance Fund (RAF) is open and accepting applications, and the Finish Line program is paused this year. Descriptions of the grant programs are posted on the Internal Grant Award Programs web page.

Questions? Contact Kathleen Koch, Internal Awards Program Manager.

Limited-submission funding opportunities, which limit the number of applications an institution may submit, are increasingly being used as sponsors seek to manage review capacity, allocate limited awards, and prioritize the most competitive proposals. The Office of Research Development Services (ORDS) manages a structured process to avoid potential pitfalls related to the submission of more applications than allowed. If UWM exceeds the submission limit, the additional applications may disqualify UWM from the grant competition or disqualify UWM colleagues who have been selected to submit through our internal competition process.

If you are interested in submitting a proposal to a limited-submission funding opportunity, notify ORDS as early as possible by completing our new electronic Notice of Intent to Apply (NOI) form. If more notices are received than the number of submissions allowed, an internal competition will be held to select the proposal(s) that best aligns with the grant program objectives and meets the sponsor’s review criteria.  ORDS also provides proposal development support to help investigators submit competitive applications.

ORDS strives to announced well-known, relevant, and new limited-submission opportunities in a timely manner via our bi-weekly research funding listservs and special email announcements. In addition, all limited-submission grant opportunities listed in PIVOT-RP are marked with a yellow box and include notes describing the institutional submission limits and ORDS guidance for applying. Tracking opportunities in PIVOT-RP helps ensure you receive updates on program changes and deadlines.

Questions? Contact Anne Kissack in the Office of Research Development Services.

The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation has launched the Indicators Explorer, a new data visualization tool that enables anyone to quickly and easily analyze high-quality data to discover trends in science and engineering. The Indicators Explorer allows users to dive into data on topics spanning the breadth of the science and engineering ecosystem, including:

The tool can generate a variety of chart types, including line graphs, bar and column graphs, U.S. and world maps, treemap and Sankey diagrams. Tables and figures can be easily customized and filtered to spotlight variables of interest, then easily cited, shared, and downloaded. The Indicators Explorer will be updated periodically with new indicators and data.

Congratulations to the 30 incoming undergraduate students who successfully completed the UR@UWM Summer Research Program, and to their faculty, staff, and graduate student mentors. 

For faculty with students funded through the Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program, the program end date for summer SURF awards is Aug. 22. The announcement of the 2026 Fall SURF awards is anticipated by Sept. 4.

Questions? Contact Kyla Esguerra, Director, Office of Undergraduate Research.

The National Institutes of Health announced that it is aligning its letter of support requirements in applications with the format currently used by the National Science Foundation. With the implementation of Forms J in Fiscal Year 2027, the NIH will no longer allow letters of support but will instead require letters of collaboration to document any collaborative relationships with individuals that are not identified in the application as senior/key personnel or other significant contributors. Letters designed to endorse the application without an intent to collaborate or provide material support will no longer be permitted in NIH grant applications. 

Letters of collaboration should be limited to stating the intent to collaborate or provide material support as described in the application and should not contain endorsements or additional information about or evaluations of the proposed project. Complete information, including the recommended language for letters of collaboration, is provided in NIH policy announcement NOT-OD-26-094.

Sponsors frequently send documents (e.g., contracts, non-disclosure agreements, confidentiality agreements, acceptance letters) to Principal Investigators, thinking that the PI has the authority to sign them.This can happen in conversations, email, or formal documents. However, did you know that agreements that are not agreed to by the correct UWM official are invalid and potentially fraudulent? Terms and conditions that are informally agreed to are not binding, but sponsors may try to indicate they previously have been agreed to, and this can make negotiations difficult. Improperly signed documents could result in withholding of funds, a breach of contract, and possible legal repercussions. When asked about terms and conditions, it’s best to refer these questions or documents to the Office of Sponsored Programs.  

At UWM, only Authorized Signatories can review and approve any incoming or outgoing agreements that obligate the University. If you receive a request to agree to terms and conditions or to sign a document at any stage of a project, please do not agree and contact OSP for assistance. In addition providing signatures, we can explain the UW System policy regarding signatories, engage with the UWM Office of Legal Affairs if needed, and provide guidance on the roles and responsibilities in developing and managing sponsored projects. 

Questions? Contact Jeremy Miner, Associate Director for Pre-Award Administration.

In collaboration with Marquette, MCW, MSOE, and the Milwaukee Veterans Administration Medical Center, we have developed new guidance for reviewing protocols that involve the use of artificial intelligence. While the guidance is primarily aimed at IRB staff and committee members, it's also useful for researchers to understand the types of information that IRB reviewers will request and why. 

If you are considering animal research, please contact the UWM Animal Care Program at acp@uwm.edu for an initial consultation before submitting your protocol. 

In 2025, NIH launched a new Biosafety Modernization Initiative, and now it plans to publish a new federal biosafety policy that will replace the existing NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules. A draft of the new federal policy is expected to be released soon. To learn more, visit the NIH Biosafety Modernization Initiative website, which includes recordings of public feedback listening sessions and a portal to submit your comments to NIH. The UWM Biosafety Program is carefully monitoring changes associated with this initiative.

Questions? Contact Melody Harries, Co-Director, Research Integrity and Compliance.

International travel and collaboration are important to the mission most U.S. research universities. Faculty, researchers, students, and staff may benefit from international conferences, fieldwork, visiting appointments, and research partnerships. At the same time, the U.S. research environment has placed increasing emphasis on research security and export control—protecting federally supported research from foreign government interference and unauthorized access and transfer of sensitive, proprietary, unpublished, controlled or restricted information.

Research security is most effective when it is addressed early. Researchers should consult with their Dean’s office and the Division of Research before international travel or collaboration. The goal is not to discourage international scholarship. It is to ensure that our university community can continue to participate confidently in global research while protecting researchers, research participants, intellectual property, federal investments, and the integrity of the research enterprise.

For members of an U.S. research university, the key message is straightforward: most international engagement is not inherently prohibited, but some destinations, institutions, activities, and types of information require additional consideration, review, and UWM/federal agency approval.

Five Questions to Ask Before International Engagement
Before traveling or beginning a new foreign collaboration, consider:

For more information and resources visit UWM’s Research Security Program website.

Questions? Contact Jeff Nytes, Co-Director, Research Integrity and Compliance.

As we begin the new fiscal year, here are a few friendly reminders to help ensure a smooth transition and accurate financial reporting.

Role of Post-Award Administration
The Post-Award team plays a vital role in supporting the successful management of sponsored projects across UWM. Acting on behalf of the Board of Regents, the team provides oversight and guidance throughout the life of an award to help ensure compliance with sponsor requirements and sound stewardship of grant funds.

What Post-Award Team Members Do

Through these efforts, the Post-Award team works closely with Principal Investigators, departments, and Pre-Award Specialists to help researchers and departments focus on advancing their work while maintaining responsible and effective grant administration.

Questions? Contact or-osp-postaward@uwm.edu. 

The WISER decommissioning timeline has been extended through September 30, 2029 to ensure stakeholders maintain reliable access to the information needed for ongoing operations and reporting.

What This Extension Means For You

Resources and Support

Questions? Contact Sarah Kavanaugh, Workday and Enterprise Solutions Team,
UW-Madison Division of Information Technology.

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