Morgridge seed grants attract over 220 proposals

Madison, Wis. - Researchers from industry and academia have submitted more than 220 initial proposals for $3 million in seed grants offered by John and Tashia Morgridge.

The offering drew responses from 10 University of Wisconsin-Madison schools and colleges, 44 industry partners, and 42 colleges and universities around the world. Successful applicants will be invited to submit full proposals, which will be due by Oct. 1, and the seed grants will be awarded in December.

The Morgridges introduced the Discovery Seed Grant program to lay the groundwork for the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, which are public and private institutes that will bring together scientists from a broad range of disciplines to fight disease and advance regenerative medicine.

"We are overwhelmed by the response from the campus community," John Morgridge, chair of the board of Cisco Systems, said in a statement. "It's clear that UW-Madison is committed to collaboration to solve the world's most pressing problems."

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery will be built with the largest individual gifts ever given to the university. The private institute will be funded with $50 million from the Morgridges and $50 million from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and the state of Wisconsin has pledged another $50 million to the public institute. Research proposals from the private sector included many UW-Madison start-up companies, plus 3M, Amgen, GE Healthcare, and Aurora Healthcare.

"This response demonstrates that the campus is excited about the possibilities provided by the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery," said Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of WARF. "We have a long way to go to bring the vision to reality, but this is a fantastic start."

"We are anxious to see which of these proposals will be successful in the faculty review process," added Tashia Morgridge.

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