Call for Proposal
Dairy Industry Impact and Innovation - Faculty
Fellowships (DI3 Faculty Fellowships)
The UW Dairy Innovation Hub is 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 farmers, processors, and related agribusinesses will be at the global forefront in producing nutritious dairy products in an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable manner. The work of the Dairy Innovation Hub focuses on four priority areas. More information can be found at the current DIH website. Deadlines for the next round of proposals will be announced in the fall semester
Funding decisions will be made by members of the UW-Platteville Dairy Innovation Hub Steering Committee and the DIH Advisory Councils.
Research projects must link to at least one of the following priority areas:
- Steward Land and Water Resources
- Enrich Human Health and Nutrition
- Ensure Animal Health and Welfare
- Grow Farm Businesses and Communities
Dairy Industry Impact and Innovation (DI3) Faculty Fellowships will utilize funding that becomes available at the beginning of each fiscal year. The intent of this program is to increase research capacity at UW-Platteville by providing current faculty time and support funds to conduct research in alignment with the Dairy Innovation Hub priorities and goals. Two-year proposals of $10,000 to $50,000 will be considered.
Research time may come in the form of reassigned time from current teaching duties and/or summer salary. Faculty may request up to:
- 25% reassigned time (with written approval for teaching backfill)
- One month summer salary for each faculty member involved per year
- Total summer salary from all sources cannot exceed the summer salary cap
- $10,000 in annual supplies, equipment, and Pioneer Farm fees (for a total of $20,000)
- No publication fees, conference or travel expense support should be included; there will be a separate RFP for those expenses as they occur (with the exception of travel to farm or research stations, no per diem for meals)
- Annual student salary up to $3,000 (for a total of $6,000)
- Applicants are encouraged to apply to the Summer Undergraduate Scholars Program for the potential to leverage funding
- Applicants are also encouraged to consider how to involve capstone projects across campus, such as Senior Design projects in the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Sciences
Award timeframe
Two years with the possibility of renewal. Bi-annual progress reports will be required and reviewed for satisfactory results to justify continued funding.
Decisions are generally announced mid- to late-April each year.
Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Justification for fit to at least one Dairy Innovation Hub Priority area (20%)
- Description of the tangible outputs to end users – farmers, dairy food processors, etc. This should include information about the financial impacts of the research and how they will be reported (25%)
- Detailed description of how the project is relevant to, and will have a strong impact on, the Wisconsin dairy community (25%)
- Involvement of undergraduate students (20%)
- Illustration of collaboration across campus (10%)
To allow for the greatest opportunity for funding across the university, faculty should limit themselves to involvement in one proposal. Previous Dairy Innovation Hub funding will be considered during review of the proposals so that a greater number of faculty will have the opportunity for this research funding. Faculty who have not followed the guidelines laid out for the DI3 Faculty Fellowships will likely not be eligible for funding in subsequent years.
Scores will not be provided back to PIs; however, synthesis feedback on proposal will be provided with decision letter.
If you have questions regarding appropriateness or fit of a proposed item to this call, please contact Tera Montgomery: montgomeryt@uwplatt.edu, 608.342.6027.
DI3 Faculty Fellowships Application Materials
Applications must include a cover page with the following information:
- Name, Department, and College of all Faculty Members
- Proposal Title
- Hub Priority area(s) addressed
- Preference list items addressed (if any)
- Brief summary of project, including relevance of project to the dairy industry (250 words)
Additional application materials to be included in project proposal are listed below:
- Description of proposed work (no more than 3 pages) including goals, methodology, expected outcomes and deliverables
- Successful proposals will clearly state how the work will contribute to at least one of the priority areas and the relevance to the dairy industry and the tangible outputs of the research. We recommend refraining from getting too technical in your descriptions of the proposed work.
- Timeline of activities
- Letter of support from a farmer, processor or other dairy industry professional, highlighting the need for the proposed work
- Budget (using the budget template) and budget justification including, but not limited to
- Salaries (only faculty and student salaries are allowed) plus fringe
- Supplies, equipment, and any costs associated with use of Pioneer Farm
- Description of grants or other funding already secured. This should include previous DI3
- Faculty Fellowships, regardless of the relationship of the projects to each other
- Anticipated opportunities for leveraging additional funds to support or continue project
- Dissemination plans (must include presentation at DIH event – Dairy Summit or Dairy Symposium)
- Approvals
- REQUIRED: School or Department Chair letter of approval and plan for teaching backfill (if joint proposal across two or more departments, include approval and plan from all chairs)
- ACUC and/or IRB approval, if needed, must be obtained before release of funding
- Pioneer Farm Director approval is required if the project utilizes Pioneer Farm resources.
- Please refer to the Pioneer Farm Per Diem Policy for farm-related expenses (contact Tera Montgomery for a copy of the policy if needed)