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.
Call for Artists
UW–Madison is accepting proposals from artists or teams of artists for consideration for an indoor public art mural that recognizes and honors innovative past, present and future contributions of Wisconsin’s diverse communities and individuals dedicated to advancing science and technology.
Submission deadline is February 28. More information is available here.
Read More "Call for Artists"
New way to alter DNA, affect health circumvents gut bacteria
In a new study, the John Denu lab has learned that the fatty acids butyrate and propionate also activate p300, a crucial human enzyme that promotes the unspooling of DNA. This unwound DNA allows more genes to become active and expressed, which ultimately affects human health.
Read More "New way to alter DNA, affect health circumvents gut bacteria"
Bacterial “zorbing” reveals a new type of social movement
While studying the three-member model microbial community, nicknamed The Hitchhikers of the Rhizosphere (THOR), researchers from professor of plant pathology and director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery Jo Handelsman and professor of biomedical engineering and Discovery Fellow David Beebe’s labs noticed cells moving in unexpected, unique ways under the microscope.
Read More "Bacterial “zorbing” reveals a new type of social movement"
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:
