Reinventing Discovery
The world's greatest scientific challenges can't be met by individual scientists, laboratories, or departments. The Wisconsin Institute for Discovery is an experiment in interdisciplinarity, combining the best minds in new teams with powerful tools that transcend the boundaries of departments and fields.
Learn more about WID > Innovations in the research process help us solve the biggest problems with a new approach to science:
Targeted Expertise
Convening experts from emerging fields
Training & Teaching
Cultivating interdisciplinary skills and language
Town Halls & Forums
Gathering diverse ideas and people
Tackling Challenges
Addressing ambitious Grand Challenges
Expertise at WID
Stories of Discovery
Research, outreach, and initiatives at WID embody the Wisconsin Idea — reaching beyond the walls of the institute and the UW campus and into the lives of citizens across the state, country, and world.
Handelsman Talks Soil on Podcast & WUWM
WID Director Jo Handelsman shared a conversation on Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda and on WUWM about soil and microbes.
Read More "Handelsman Talks Soil on Podcast & WUWM"
New Tool Predicts Three-Dimensional Organization of Human Chromosomes
WID researchers have developed a computational tool that can accurately predict the three-dimensional interactions between regions of human chromosomes.
Read More "New Tool Predicts Three-Dimensional Organization of Human Chromosomes"
Lifelike Chemistry Created in Lab Search for Ways to Study Origin of Life
Discovery Fellow David Baum leads a team that has cultivated lifelike chemical reactions while pioneering a new strategy for studying the origin of life.
Read More "Lifelike Chemistry Created in Lab Search for Ways to Study Origin of Life"
Grand Challenges
Discovery Hubs
WID’s hubs act as integrators for the campus community, generating new ideas that nucleate new collaborative research projects. The hubs make use of WID expertise to provide services that assist other researchers in applying specialized tools to a range of problems extending far beyond the scope of WID’s programs. Explore WID’s Hubs:
