New resource highlights impact of federal agency research investments

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a research powerhouse with annual expenditures exceeding $1.38 billion ­– a figure that puts us inside the top 10 in the nation among universities for volume of research. From education to entrepreneurship, research touches every part of the UW–Madison experience. Our researchers help to solve some of the biggest challenges at home and around the globe and turn discoveries into commercial opportunities that directly impact industries across the entire state of Wisconsin and nation.

From National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funding that supports advanced hurricane tracking and lightning predictions to funding from the Department of Defense (DoD) that has helped us take a leap toward quantum computing, federal funding is an essential resource in advancing discovery at UW­–Madison.

To highlight the impact of agency support, the Office of Federal Relations has created a series of fact sheets noting the total contribution of several federal agencies and some key research highlights from the previous fiscal year. These one-page documents highlight agency investments and their impact.

For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded more than $33.9 million to UW­–Madison researchers (ranking the university 17th in the nation for funding from USDA). Those dollars helped advance projects addressing a nationwide scourge on potato crops, as well as a significant and growing threat to cranberry crops.

The university was 4th in the nation in research expenditures financed by the Department of Energy, with an investment of $91.7 million from the department in fiscal year 2021-22. That investment is helping researchers extract energy from plant enzymes as well as move researchers closer to a more efficient, resilient nuclear reactor fuel.

For more great examples of federal agency funding impact, review the series on our website.

If you have federally-funded projects at UW–Madison that you’d like to highlight, let us know.