Administrative Services

Things You Need to Know From the Office of Research & Scholarship — Aug. 14, 2026

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As summer begins to wind down and campus starts to fill up again, we’re looking ahead to a busy fall semester. We have two important competitions on the horizon to keep on your radar.

UW–Madison Fall Competition

Completed proposals for the UW–Madison Fall Competition are due by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026.

To help create the strongest possible proposals, the Office of Research & Scholarship will host a workshop on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Education Building (L138). Attendees will have the opportunity to receive feedback from experienced reviewers and ask questions before finalizing their applications. Please RSVP by Aug. 21, 2026 and indicate the competition division you plan to submit to so we can ensure the appropriate reviewers are available.

Institute for Education Sciences (IES)

IES has officially launched the first five competitions of its FY27 grantmaking cycle, prioritizing foundational infrastructure like state longitudinal data, research training, and statistical methodology. All applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on Oct. 1, 2026. IES also recommends that interested applicants submit a letter of intent by Sept. 3, 2026.

Please submit a Grant Request Form by Sept. 3, 2026. Editing requests are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, so early notification helps ensure we can accommodate your project timeline. Because several major funding opportunities close around the same time, our ORS team expects a particularly busy season. We appreciate your help in planning so we can provide the best support to as many PIs as possible, including required proposal editing services.

IES is also offering virtual office hour sessions to give those interested in applying an opportunity to ask questions about the RFA and the overall process. There will not be a formal presentation during these sessions.

News and Announcements

The Harvard Radcliffe Fellowship Program is now accepting applications from individuals across career stages for the 2027–2028 academic year. Learn more on their website. If you plan to apply, please let the ORS team know via our form.

Research Mentor Learning Communities support graduate students and postdocs who are currently mentoring or who anticipate mentoring as part of their future professional roles. Registration is currently open for both for-credit and non-credit opportunities. Learn more and register on the Grad School website.

To align with the National Science Foundation and reduce administrative burden, the National Institutes of Health are replacing letters of support with letters of collaboration. This change restricts letters to collaborators only who are not key personnel and limits them to 100 words. Learn more in the official NIH notice.

Fall semester hiring requests for graduate assistants, employees in training, and student help should all have been submitted to HR by late July/early August. If you still have hiring needs for the start of the semester, please complete the Student & Employee-in-Training Appointments (WCER) form as soon as you can. Contact Kate Hewson (over Teams or at kate.hewson@wisc.edu) with any questions about the form or your hires.

Earlier this month, Candid hosted a live Introduction to Proposal Writing webinar. The recording is now available as a step-by-step guide to creating a grant proposal to a foundation. Learn more and watch the recording on their website.

Badger Talks Presents is looking for publications that would appeal to a broad Wisconsin audience for an upcoming series to help promote the amazing work being done across campus. Submit your idea by Sept. 1, 2026. They’re particularly looking for publications released in the last two years on topics with broad interest that have clear real-world takeaways. Concepts will need to be presented in a non-technical manner.

Last year the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, with support from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, launched the Igniting Interdisciplinary Innovation (I3) initiative. The program drew hundreds of researchers representing nearly every corner of campus. Congratulations to the three funded projects that involve researchers from the School of Education:

Events and Learning Opportunities

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