Contacts: Laura Smith, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2162
Terry Devitt, UW-Madison Communications, 608-262-8282
MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle announced today that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected two Wisconsin early career scientists to receive five-year research grants through the federal American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Dr. Stanislav Boldyrev is an assistant physics professor, and Dr. Daniel Fredrickson is an assistant chemistry professor, both based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“I want to congratulate Professors Boldyrev and Fredrickson on receiving these grants,” Governor Doyle said. “UW-Madison receives the third-most research dollars of any university in the country, and that’s a tribute to the great researchers we have here. I want to thank the Obama Administration for their leadership in helping these scientists pursue their projects.”
Governor Doyle has been a champion for research efforts in biology, engineering, medicine, energy and education. He has vetoed legislation that would have limited stem cell research and has helped develop bio-medical initiatives by investing in research facilities at multiple UW System campuses and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Those facilities include the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, the Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research, and the Wisconsin Energy Institute in Madison, and the School of Freshwater Science and the Kenwood Integrated Research Complex in Milwaukee.
UW-Madison places third in the nation in research expenditures, according to the latest rankings by the National Science Foundation. Since Governor Doyle took office, research grants to Wisconsin colleges and universities have nearly doubled, from $545 million in 2003 to over $1 billion by 2009, led by UW-Madison with over $900 million. This research success is linked to the growth in related start-up companies in Wisconsin resulting in high wage job expansion. For example, UW-Madison’s first Research Park is now full, occupied by over 50 companies with more than 4,000 high tech jobs. In 2009, the Governor authorized the planning for a second UW Research Park.
Professor Boldyrev is working on a project titled “Scaling Laws in Magnetized Plasma Turbulence,” and Professor Fredrickson’s project is called “Chemical Frustration: A Design for the Discover of New Complex Alloy and Intermetallic Phases.” Each is eligible for at least $150,000 per year to cover summer salary and research expenses. The final details for each project award are subject to final contract negotiations with DOE.
Sixty-nine different scientists are receiving grants as part of DOE’s new Early Career Research Program. The new effort is designed to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the crucial early career years, when many scientists do their most formative work.
To be eligible for an award, a researcher must be an untenured, tenure-track assistant professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory, who received a Ph.D. within the past 10 years. Awardees were selected from a pool of 1,750 university- and national laboratory-based applicants. Selection was based on peer review by outside scientific experts.
