What is your idea? What data will you need to gather? How will you know when you’ve gathered the right data? Do you need to create protocols for specific governing agencies? Are protocols needed for consistency in gathering or analyzing the data? Do you need help figuring out where to start with your research? UW-Madison Research Guides is a starting point that provides resources for various research topics.
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Education (VCRGE) provides the PI Portal, a dashboard and on-ramp for all research administration and compliance.
Governing and Oversight Agencies
Depending on your idea and the data you need to gather, you may need to work with the following resources to ensure compliance with laws or regulations. Different resources address the necessary protocol when conducting research involving human or animal subjects to protect the interests and safety of all parties involved.
- Public Access Service: provides access to a curated list of Federal Agency Plans and Policies to ensure necessary compliance
- Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Portal: provides various types of IRB training and certifications
- Education and Social/Behavioral Science Institutional Review Board (ED/SBS IRB): reviews research involving human subjects to make sure that the rights and welfare of the subjects are being protected.
- Health Sciences Institutional Review Boards Office (HS-IRBs): home to both the Health Sciences (HS-IRB) and Minimal Risk IRB (MR-IRB), reviews all human research protocols in accordance with federal regulations, state laws, and local and University policies.
- Research Animal Resources and Compliance (RARC): provides training and services for animal care while complying with the different laws and regulations guiding the use of lab animals.
- Application Review for Research Oversight at Wisconsin (ARROW): on-line workflow system to review and track applications for research oversight pertaining to: human and animals subjects, stem cell research and biological safety
- Environment, Health, & Safety (EH&S): provides specific services for biological, chemical, engineering, fire and life, radiation, and lake safety (departments and centers also have their own EH&S departments)
- Office of Biological Safety (OBS): assists all faculty and staff in observing safe laboratory practices for biological materials in compliance with all local, state, and federal regulations
- UW–Madison Export Control Program: helps researchers comply with export control laws and regulations through the Federal Select Agent Program
- Stem Cell Research Oversight (SCRO) Committee: their oversight applies regardless of the source of funding. All other oversight approvals must be in place prior to submitting a SCRO protocol for review. Approval must be in place prior to beginning research.
For research compliance, protocol, and safety related training requirements, view the Research KnowledgeBase page on Research Compliance, Protocol, and Safety Related Training Requirements.
Research Design
The Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) Biostatistics and Research Design Resource (BARD) assists with design of clinical research including sample size and power calculations as well as general methodology.
To obtain real-life feedback on recruitment strategies, consent forms, data collection instruments, increase the diversity of project participants, and more, contact the Wisconsin Network for Research Support (WINRS).
The UW-Madison Libraries Research Guides provide information and references that are intended to help researchers that are new to a subject get started on their research.
The Teaching & Research Application Development (TRAD) service partners with instructors, researchers, and campus staff to conceptualize, design, and implement innovative custom software solutions and library applications. They supporting research ideas, application development, data collection, and data visualization needs.
Resource Links
arrow.wisc.edu
- The Basics of Effort Reporting
- Human Subjects Protection
- Good Clinical Practice
- Stem Cell Online Training
- IRB Member Training
my.gradsch.wisc.edu/citi/index…
www.irb.wisc.edu
www.ehs.wisc.edu
research.wisc.edu/respolcomp/e…exportcontrol@grad.wisc.edu
pas.wisc.edu/publicaccess@wisc.edu(608) 262-2020
www.selectagents.govlrsat@cdc.gov
kb.wisc.edu/hsirbsAskTheIRB@medicine.wisc.edu608-263-2362
Provide biostatistical support/collaboration during the design, conduct, and analysis phases of your clinical and translational research projects. BARD statisticians are involved in research planning and experimental design, proposal development, data analysis, interpretation, and presentation of results.
ictr.wisc.edu/Biostatisticslindstro@biostat.wisc.edu
A dashboard of your personalized research administration, compliance, and training information. The PI Portal also provides an on-ramp to necessary electronic tools with direct links to your records and a quick reference guide with essential information about key topics.
research.wisc.edu/researchers/…piportal@research.wisc.edu
researchguides.library.wisc.ed…libraries@library.wisc.edu(608) 262-3193
winrs.son.wisc.eduwinrs@son.wisc.edu608-262-9532
at.doit.wisc.edu/trad/academictech@doit.wisc.edu(608) 262-5667
A Research Project Data Management Plan (DMP) describes how to collect, format, describe, organize, store, access, attribute, and preserve your data throughout your project. It is a requirement for several federal funding agencies and can also be used to describe data compliance to any relevant rules or guidelines like HIPPA.
A DMP can be of continued value throughout the project to help quickly bring new lab members on board with any project.
RDS and DMPTool
Research Data Services (RDS) offers consultations on writing a data management plan (DMP) necessary for grant applications. DMPs require Principal Investigator (PIs) to describe what data will be generated, how it will be organized and shared during the course of the project, and how it will be made publicly accessible after research is complete. They also offer guidance on how to use DMPTool, which provides templates for the individual DMPs required by most federal grants.
Resources for Accumulating Data
See the resources within the RPRG page Accumulate Data for more information on campus resources for data storage and management.
Resource Links
dmptool.org
researchdata.wisc.edu
datascience.wisc.edufacilitator@datascience.wisc.edu
What hardware and software are currently available? What Operating System and specialized software is needed? Who needs access and from where?
Software
The Software Overview on this site and Wikipedia’s Software Comparison Charts provide starting points for finding software and training to meet your needs.
If custom software must be created, DoIT Training, LinkedIn Learning, and Software Carpentry are available for various programming languages and environments.
The Teaching & Research Application Development (TRAD) service partners with instructors, researchers and campus staff to conceptualize, design and implement innovative custom software solutions and library applications.
Once the first version of your new software is written, Morgridge’s Software Assurance Marketplace (SWAMP) provides a no-cost, high-performance, centralized cloud computing platform to help you regularly test its security.
Compute Systems and Services
Depending on the size and amount of compute tasks you’ll need to carry out, there are many options to choose from, and your project may need more than one.
Personal Workstations (Desktops, Laptops, etc.)
If the typical computation tasks you’ll perform when working with your data will only take minutes to hours to complete, a personal workstation will probably be work for your needs. Your local IT staff may offer specific assistance or preferences.
Large-Scale Computing
Large-scale computing is available for any amount of computing that is too “big” or would take to long on your personal workstation. Depending on the scale of the work you plan to accomplish, there are multiple option on- and off-campus.
If you are unsure sure which type of “large” computing you’ll need, the Center for High Throughput Computing (CHTC) provide Research Computing Facilitators to assist you. They also help connect researchers to CloudLab, an infrastructure for research on the future of cloud computing.
Your local organization may have additional training or support.
DoIT Virtual Servers
The Campus Computing Infrastructure (CCI) is a campus sponsored and governed initiative that will deliver shared, scalable, secure IT infrastructure services to campus partners at UW-Madison.
Center or Departmental Support
When you need to plan, purchase, install, or configure your compute environment including analysis tools, your local department or center IT department can assist you.
Resource Links
it.wisc.edu/services/campus-ac…
cci.wisc.edu/cci@cio.wisc.edu
ctig.wisc.edu
cloudlab.ussupport@cloudlab.us
it.wisc.edu/help@doit.wisc.edu(608) 264-4357
sts.doit.wisc.edu/index.aspx
it.wisc.edu/services/online-tr…
aci.wisc.edu/learning-support/…
continuousassurance.orgsupport@continuousassurance.org
it.wisc.edu/services/software/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category…
datascience.wisc.edufacilitator@datascience.wisc.edu
at.doit.wisc.edu/trad/academictech@doit.wisc.edu(608) 262-5667
Do you need to find new people or groups to collaborate with? How will everyone in the project collaborate and share information within the group, with the sponsor, or with the public?
Find Collaborators
The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) maintains the Wisconsin Discovery Portal (WDP), a database of over 3,000 carefully maintained researcher profiles. This project is an outgrowth of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery project’s goal of facilitating collaborative research.
Share Information
Content Management Systems (CMS)
Many groups use web-based CMSs to easily display data, publications, and general information about the research project/group via web pages. A comparison chart can be found on Wikipedia, a source of many readily available software comparison charts.
DoIT provides WiscWeb, powered by WordPress, to all members of UW-Madison.
Adding the Campus Active Directory to your CMS will allow students, faculty, staff, researchers, departments, and guests to use the NetID login service to access secured content.
UW-Madison Google Apps
UW-Madison provides the opportunity to collaborate with other researchers, faculty members, staff members or students through the following G Suite (formerly Google Apps):
- Drive (Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, and Forms)
- Sites (Hosted Websites for Labs or Events)
- Hangouts
- Groups
- Contacts
- Google+
Marketing and Design
University Marketing has a variety of information sharing services including:
- Branding
- Graphic Design and Illustration
- Web Design and Development
- Copy writing and editing
University Communications provides a variety of services to portray how UW-Madison is fulfilling its core missions each day. They create news releases, print publications, photos, videos, posts, email, social media, and manage the UW Homepage, On Wisconsin, the Campus News Site, and others. They also maintains a large Campus Photo Library that may be useful for creating posters or other dissemination content.
Wisconsin Public Television Production Services from Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) creates digital media to visualize complex processes and abstract concepts. Services include 3-D modelling and animation, illustration and graphic design, video documentation and scriptwriting to communicate research findings.
Web Conferencing Solutions
Whether you have members of your group outside of campus or an individual group member has a temporary need to telecommute, an effective web conferencing solution can greatly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your group meetings. One of Wikipedia’s Software Comparison Charts details web conferencing software. It references many of the factors you’ll need to determine which solution may work for your group. For example, do you need software that:
- Works on Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and/or Mobile Devices?
- Provides Audio and/or Video at HD/VGA (etc) quality?
- Has white board, desktop sharing, file sharing, or recording capabilities?
UW-Madison now provides Blackboard Collaborate, customizable, browser-based meeting spaces free of charge to UW-Madison faculty and staff.
Some other popular solutions are:
- Skype
- Google Hangouts (available through UW-Madison Google Apps)
- Adobe Connect (available discounted or free through the Campus Software Library)
- Cisco WebEx
Email Lists
Email lists help ensure that all members of your group gets the messages they should. UW-Madison faculty, staff, and registered student organizations can use WiscList, is a free email distribution list service available to. Some departments, including DiscoverIT, manage their own email lists for their members.
Network Access for Campus Visitors
Campus departments can now provide a temporary, Guest NetID to visiting scholars, prospective students, seminar attendees, contract employees and others who need short-term access to UW-Madison’s Wireless WiscWorld and VPN (Virtual Private Network).
Resources for Graduate Students
DiscoverPD is a self-assessment tool for graduate students that analyzes areas of professional development. A report provides an analysis of strengths and weaknesses along with suggestions to strengthen abilities in each area.
Resource Links
kb.wisc.edu/collaborate/
it.wisc.edu/services/campus-ac…
my.grad.wisc.edu/discoverpdgsacserv@grad.wisc.edu608-262-2433
d2p.wisc.edu(608) 890-0860
it.wisc.edu/help@doit.wisc.edu(608) 264-4357
kb.wisc.edukb-team@lists.wisc.edu
it.wisc.edu/services/online-tr…
www.overleaf.com
researchdata.wisc.edu
software-carpentry.org
uc.wisc.edu608-262-3571
umark.wisc.educontact@umark.wisc.edu608-262-0948
apps.google.wisc.edu
researchguides.library.wisc.ed…libraries@library.wisc.edu(608) 262-3193
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category…
lists.wisc.edu
www.warf.org
discoveryportal.orgdiscoveryportal@warf.org(608) 263-2500
wpt.org/production_services/ma…laurie.gorman@wpt.org(608) 263-4106
wiscweb.wisc.edu/
Once you have formulated your project and have a vision for its execution, you will need to apply for grant funding. Your Grant Administrator will help guide you through the process of drafting and submitting a grant proposal, including budget preparation, forms completion, and routing for campus approvals.
Finding Funding
There are many resources and databases to assist you in finding potential funding opportunities.
- Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) provides links to many of the most commonly-used search engines, including institutional membership to some subscription-based services at Finding Funding.
- The Grants Information Collection (GIC), located in the Memorial Library, provides direct access to various funding databases. Their mission is to provide access to information essential to successful educational, research, and nonprofit grant-seeking, and by collecting literature in the areas of philanthropy, fundraising, and nonprofit management.
For additional guidance or assistance, consult your grant administrator.
Routing Your Submission
All grant proposals at UW-Madison must be routed for approval from the division and Research & Sponsored Programs. Your grant administrator can guide you through the necessary steps to obtain those approvals and respond to any requests from either office. RSP provides administrative support for sponsored projects, as well as institutional signature for proposals and funding agreements, and maintains the following resources:
- ECRT: Effort Reporting Tool
- WISPER: electronic routing form for applications and agreements
- Cayuse: web-based system for submission of applications via grants.gov
- WISDM: Wisconsin Data Mart for PeopleSoft Financials
- Finding Funding
Overhead costs for each employee type vary due in part to the benefits they receive. These rates are available from RSP and the Office of Human Resources (OHR).
- Fringe Benefit Rates
- Salary Ranges and Minima
- Tuition remission
- Facilities and Administrative Costs (F&A) and Fringe Benefit Rates
Essential information from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Education (VCRGE) includes:
The VCRGE office also provides the PI Portal, a dashboard and on-ramp for research administration and compliance to navigate many of the resources listed above.
FastLane is an interactive real-time system used to conduct NSF business over the Internet.
Writing Assistance for Students
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Writing Center offers individual help, workshops, and online resources for all students including graduate and professional students. Individual help can be specifically tailored to grant proposals and publications.
Resource Links
www.cals.wisc.edu/calslab/stat…statconsulting@cals.wisc.edu608-263-4946
d2p.wisc.edu(608) 890-0860
www.rsp.wisc.edu/effort/index….
www.fastlane.nsf.gov
www.rsp.wisc.edu/funding/
research.wisc.eduvcrge@research.wisc.edu608-262-1044
www.overleaf.com
A dashboard of your personalized research administration, compliance, and training information. The PI Portal also provides an on-ramp to necessary electronic tools with direct links to your records and a quick reference guide with essential information about key topics.
research.wisc.edu/researchers/…piportal@research.wisc.edu
www.rsp.wisc.edu
library.wisc.edu
www.writing.wisc.edu
login.wisc.edu/idp/profile/SAM…
www.rsp.wisc.edu/WISPER/index….
