Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery?
The Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID) is a research institute that is part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a mission of enhancing human health and welfare through interdisciplinary research spanning biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information technologies. WID will be housed in one structure with the private, not-for-profit Morgridge Institute for Research (MIR). Together, the two institutes comprise the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.
What is the difference between the public Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the private Morgridge Institute for Research?
The public institute, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, is part of the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is organized under the UW–Madison Graduate School. The private institute, the Morgridge Institute for Research, is an independent not-for profit medical research institute that will complement and interface with the public institute and UW–Madison. It is headed by an executive director and governed by its own board of trustees.
How does this public-private partnership work?
The partnership involves a $50 million donation from UW–Madison alumni John and Tashia Morgridge and a matching $50 million gift from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, as well as $50 million in state funding. The goal of the partnership is to establish a collaborative environment fostering interdisciplinary research that results in discoveries to improve human health.
How will the WID program of research be organized?
The overarching WID program will be theme-oriented, with each research theme encompassing at least two of WID’s three “thrust” areas of biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technologies. Initial WID research will be centered on the work of 20 faculty investigators, five drawn from the ranks of current UW–Madison faculty and 15 who will be newly-recruited to the university. The five current UW–Madison faculty members will be chosen through a competitive process open to the UW–Madison community. They will occupy space in the new WID facility and become the intellectual and scientific foundation of the institute. WID’s research program is intended to be larger than the institute itself and will involve faculty and other intellectual resources that do not physically reside in the WID building.
What is the importance of the interdisciplinary concept?
The institute will build on the long tradition of interdisciplinary research at UW–Madison. Today’s problems relating to human health and welfare are more complex than one individual, one department or one institution can solve. WID and MIR will encourage the kind of cross-pollination needed to attack these problems. One of the project’s key objectives is to foster new approaches to biomedical problems at the convergence of various areas of science. To help meet this objective, WID research collaborations are expected to extend beyond the physical confines of the WID building to include faculty from other parts of the UW–Madison campus.
What is the timeline for WID?
A WID research theme competition will commence in the fall of 2008 with a call for pre-proposals from UW–Madison faculty. By February 2009, at least ten themes will be selected from among the pre-proposals for full proposal development. Following review by a faculty committee, five WID themes will be selected by September of 2009. Recruitment of new faculty will begin in October 2009 and faculty will occupy the new WID facility upon completion of the building at the end of 2010.
How does the project advance the educational mission of the university?
Undergraduate and graduate students will be integrally involved in the institute's research. In addition to working in the institute's laboratories, students will gain knowledge about how complex problems are approached and the value of collaborative research.The Wisconsin Idea is central to UW–Madison’s mission.
How does this project help fulfill that mission?
In addition to helping build a knowledge-based Wisconsin economy in 21st-century industries, the institutes will reach out statewide and globally on a number of fronts. The institutes will have state-of-the-art multimedia and telecommunications capability. Seminars and interactive Web-based programs given by institute scholars could be provided to other UW System campuses. Hands-on science programs will be available for K–12 students and visiting researchers will be invited to take part in the institutes’ work. Public lectures and other events will translate science for a lay audience and make it come alive for members of the community.
