The Office of Business Engagement (OBE) is here to help you build strong, strategic relationships with industry partners. We bring deep knowledge of the industry landscape and strong relationships across both the business community and UW–Madison, helping you navigate opportunities that align with your goals. We can help you explore opportunities such as direct funding, joint research, mentorship of student projects, equipment donations, and many others. Here are a few helpful resources; please contact us with any questions.
Community of Practice
- The Industry Engagement Collective (IEC) is a Community of Practice hosted by the Office of Business Engagement. All UW–Madison faculty, staff, and affiliates who pursue and/or support university-industry partnerships are welcome to participate. The IEC meets monthly and offers a range of educational and networking opportunities. To join, please email inquiries@obe.wisc.edu to be added to our distribution list.
Self-Service Tools
- DAPIR (Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research) provides access to tools such as Steppingblocks that help you find alumni at a variety of organizations.
- Search for research activity and potential collaborators across campus with RABBIT, an AI-powered tool developed to help industry engagement offices on campus connect faculty with applied research opportunities. UW–Madison faculty and staff and WARF employees can access RABBIT using NetID. Data available include maps of UW–Madison faculty collaborations and publicly available information about faculty members’ articles, grants, patents, sponsorships and agreements.
- HALO is an online platform that connects academic researchers with industry‑sponsored research and funding opportunities. Companies post technical challenges as RFPs, requests for experts, or requests for materials, inviting collaboration from the research community. Faculty and staff can create a free profile to showcase their expertise, identify areas of interest, and set up alerts to receive notifications for new opportunities. Proposals are brief, non-confidential, and easy to submit directly through the platform. UW-Madison is a preferred institution with HALO, and OBE can serve as a resource for questions regarding HALO.
- A resource packet for faculty and staff preparing to work with industry partners. This packet includes a sample outreach email, a one-page project/research brief template, and the Heilmeier Questions—core prompts that help you frame your work in terms industry partners value. Use it to sharpen your messaging, prepare for meetings, and communicate your research/project clearly.
Professional Associations
- UIDP: The University Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP) is a recognized leader in addressing issues impacting academic-corporate collaboration, providing a unique forum for our member representatives to find better ways to partner. UW-Madison has an institutional membership for UIDP. You can register for a free account using your wisc.edu email address to review resources and sign up for events.
- NACRO: The Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers (NACRO) unifies academic corporate relations professionals worldwide, empowering them through a network of peers, tools, and dynamic professional development to forge high-impact university-industry partnerships. Membership fees are required to join this association.
Sponsored Research
- Badger IP Industry Advantage is UW–Madison’s streamlined approach to transforming discoveries into innovative solutions, providing tiered options for Intellectual Property (IP) licensing tied to sponsored research conducted with industry partners.
- Are you working with a company and need common forms for agreements? Find them on our Sponsored Research page.
More Resources
- Review a variety of case studies on industry partnerships at UW-Madison.
- Explore campus resources for entrepreneurs.
- Looking to publicize your work? Start with the Office of Strategic Communication.
Need more direction? Contact our office and we can help you make the connections you need to be successful.