The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is accepting proposals for trainee research projects that will leverage existing UW–Madison expertise to provide timely products supporting the goals of the Dairy Innovation Hub, with an emphasis on addressing recommendations generated by the Dairy Task Force 2.0.

In 2019, the Dairy Innovation Hub launched with a $7.8 million per year investment by the State of Wisconsin to build a world-class talent pool and enable bold discoveries to ensure that Wisconsin’s dairy community is at the global forefront in producing nutritious dairy products in an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable manner.

This call seeks proposals that will fund research to work on innovative and impactful dairy-related research. Research must relate to one of the following priority areas prioritized by the Hub:

1. Stewarding Land and Water Resources
2. Enriching Human Health and Nutrition
3. Ensuring Animal Health and Welfare
4. Growing Farm Businesses and Communities

The objective of this call is to enhance scholarship and advancement of innovation in the above priority areas needed to ensure the future success and resiliency of dairy-related research in Wisconsin. A central goal is to bring top prospective trainees to UW-Madison, thus increasing training capacity to fund novel research projects that benefit the Wisconsin dairy community.

New to 2025, the open RFP allows the PI to choose which trainee model would be best applicable for a two-year project. The type of candidate (graduate or postdoctoral fellow) must be indicated within the application. Priority will be given to projects that include applied research with clear plans for deliverables by the completion of the two-year project.

Funding is available to tenure-track faculty with permanent PI status within CALS. A research associate level candidate does need to be identified, although inclusion of a top candidate will strengthen the proposal application. A PI should only submit one proposal to the RFP as the primary PI. However, the PI may serve as a co-PI on other proposals. Proposals from similar collaborative teams, and overlapping or similar proposals to previously funded projects, are discouraged.

Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. CST on Friday, March 7, 2025. Award decisions will be sent to applicants in June of 2025.

To review the call details and submission materials, please see below:

• Full request for proposals and application details
• Check list to assist PIs with a complete application

For more information and resources for researchers, check out the research funding section of the DIH website.

Questions? Please contact Matt Ruark, DIH faculty director, at mdruark@wisc.edu.