Research Proposal Application
All proposals for research at Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center will be reviewed by the Upham Woods Research Review Board, which will decide if the proposal is approved, denied, or must be modified for reconsideration. No research may be initiated until a proposal has been reviewed and approved. Ideally, any grant application seeking funding for research at Upham Woods should be submitted for approval to the Upham Woods Research Review Board before submission to any funding agency or organization. Such prior approval would eliminate uncertainties about the suitability of the planned research for Upham Woods.
All research proposals are submitted electronically to the Research Program Specialist via email. To submit a research proposal, please be familiar with the guidelines for research as explained below. When deciding whether or not to grant requests for deviations from these guidelines, those making the decision will weigh the potential significance of scientific knowledge that would be gained by the research against the potential cost to future research because of such land use. The ultimate goal is the sustainable use of Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center as a place for educational, experimental, and observational ecological research.
The Research Proposal Review Procedures are available to provide consistency and transparency in the request review process. It is our goal to complete the review within 30 days of electronic submission of the request form. Exceptions to this timeframe may occur if complex questions of issues arise during the review process.
Site Access & Usage
Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center is an educational facility first and foremost, but also supports experiments that further the understanding of the Wisconsin River Corridor ecosystem and forest community. To ensure security and safety on the landscape at Upham Woods, researchers are required to check-in at the administrative building before going to any field site. If the requested research may interfere with ongoing Upham Woods project or educational programming, researchers may be asked to modify their work plan. Researchers are may be exposed to participants in educational programming at Upham Woods and are encouraged to engage and take questions when appropriate.
If the primary investigator of the requested research is not a University of Wisconsin researcher, and is funded by a grant that does not pay overhead to the University of Wisconsin, there is a $500/year fee for experimental studies and a $300/year fee for observational studies. Use of equipment, and laboratory and storage space is limited at Upham Woods and may be subject to additional fees.
Food and lodging may be available for traveling researchers. Include possible dates of when lodging and/or food is needed in the research request. Rates for researchers are billed as adult groups, which can be found at: Upham Woods Rates and Regulations.
Human & Animal Subjects
All research at Upham Woods involving human and animal subjects must conform to the policies laid out by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), available at https://research.wisc.edu/compliance-policy/human-research-protection-program/ and https://www.rarc.wisc.edu/protocols.html, respectively. Research requests must be approved by the IRB prior to consideration for approval at Upham Woods.
Drone Use
If research intends to use Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to collect data, researchers must follow the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s drone policy, available at https://research.wisc.edu/uw-madison-drone-use-policy/.
Data Submission and Usage
Data from research conducted at Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center must be submitted to Upham Woods for archiving. These data will be available for use by Upham Woods and future researchers for educational and research purposes. Upham Woods reserves the right to use the news of research promotionally in digital and print formats.
