Wisconsin Institute for Discovery

WiCOR Lecture: Understanding the Chemical Origins of Life
2025-10-08 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | H.F. DeLuca Forum, Discovery Building
Professor Jim Cleaves, Department of Chemistry, Howard University. Professor Jim Cleaves, Department of Chemistry, Howard University. This lecture surveys a century of inquiry into life’s origins on Earth, one of science’s great mysteries, and examines the question’s implications for how common life may be beyond our planet. Prof. Jim Cleaves, Howard University. will present a seminar entitled “Prebiotic Chemical Diversity” for the Fall 2025 Wisconsin Center for Origins Research Lecture. This event is open to the public. Learn more at: https://go.wisc.edu/wicor
CONTACT: 262-4611, wicor@wisc.edu
URL: https://go.wisc.edu/wicor-lecture-fa25

Understanding the Chemical Origins of Life
2025-10-08 19:30 - 20:30 | H.F. DeLuca Forum, Discovery Building
WiCOR Lecture – Fall 2025 – Jim Cleaves. Professor Jim Cleaves (Department of Chemistry, Howard University) will present a lecture entitled “Understanding the Chemical Origins of Life” for the Fall 2025 Wisconsin Center for Origins Research (WiCOR) Lecture on Oct 8 at 7:30 PM. This event is open to the public! Learn more at: https://go.wisc.edu/wicor-lecture-fa25
CONTACT: 262-4611, wicor@wisc.edu
URL: https://go.wisc.edu/wicor-lecture-fa25

Wisconsin Center for Origins Research Seminar: Prebiotic Chemical Diversity
2025-10-09 12:05 - 13:05 | Seminar Hall 1315, Chemistry Building
Professor Jim Cleaves, Department of Chemistry, Howard University. Professor Jim Cleaves (Department of Chemistry, Howard University) will present a seminar entitled “Prebiotic Chemical Diversity” for the Fall 2025 Wisconsin Center for Origins Research Seminar on Oct 9 at 12:05 PM. This event is intended for a research audience. Learn more at: https://go.wisc.edu/wicor-seminar-fa25
CONTACT: 262-4611, wicor@wisc.edu
URL: https://wicor.wisc.edu/event/wicor-research-seminar-cleaves/

git/GitLab
2025-10-15 09:00 - 13:00, 2025-10-16 09:00 - 13:00 | WI
Learn Skills for Research Software Engineering. Learn to use version control with Git. Version control is the lab notebook of the digital world: it’s what professionals use to keep track of what they’ve done and to collaborate with other people. Every large software development project relies on it, and most programmers use it for their small jobs as well. And it isn’t just for software: books, papers, small data sets, and anything that changes over time or needs to be shared can and should be stored in a version control system.
CONTACT: facilitator@datascience.wisc.edu
URL: https://uw-madison-datascience.github.io/2025-10-01-uwmadison-mini/

Indigenous Language Table
2025-10-15 13:00 - 14:15, 2025-10-22 13:00 - 14:15, 2025-10-29 13:00 - 14:15, 2025-11-06 13:00 - 14:15, 2025-11-12 13:00 - 14:15 | 1145 Discovery Building
A safe place to practice indigneous languages. An Indigenous Language Table supports learners in developing spoken skills beyond the classroom, building community, strengthening purpose, and normalizing Indigenous languages through representation. It welcomes former students and ongoing learners, community members from classes or self study, and anyone interested in Indigenous languages and people.
CONTACT: 316-4325, lredeagle@wisc.edu
URL: https://illuminatingdiscovery.wisc.edu/indigenous-language-table/

Sci-prov
2025-10-17 19:00 - 21:00 | Discovery Building, 330 North Orchard Street, Orchard View Room, Madison, WI, 53715, United States
Science Meets Improv Comedy in this special Wisconsin Science Festival edition! Presented in partnership with Amalgam Improv.

Join the Wisconsin Science Festival and Amalgam Improv for an evening fusing science and spontaneous improv comedy like no other at Sci-prov!
Sci-prov combines science and improv in creative, funny, and never before seen ways. In this special, fusion event, scientists Rachael Shields and Amy Koike will present their work in short, digestible presentations followed by brief Q&A, all of which will become fodder for the improv scenes. The improv scenes are created on the fly, unique to each show, and performed by a troupe of phenomenal improvisers!
Rachael Shields is a landscape architect and graduate student in the School of Human Ecology Design Studies program, while Amy Koike is a PhD student in the People and Robots Lab at UW-Madison.
Light refreshments and cash bar available. Tickets are free and registration is requested to ensure adequate seating.
RSVP for your free tickets now!

We value inclusion and access for all participants. If you would like to request reasonable accommodations to enhance your participation experience, please email idhub@wid.wisc.edu no later than 2 weeks prior to the event. This event is wheelchair accessible.

COMBINE 2025
2025-10-20 08:00 - 17:00 | Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
Computational Modeling in Biology (COMBINE) 2025 will be a workshop-style event hosted by the University of Wisconsin- Madison, USA.

Welcome to the the 16th International meeting of the “Computational Modeling in Biology” Network (COMBINE) will take place as an in person meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America from October 20-23, 2025.
Registration is open until September 28, 2025 for in person attendance. $199 USD for in person attendees.
The fee will increase after September 28th is slots are still available.

REMEMBER, AFTER YOU FILL OUT THE REGISTRATION HERE: GO BACK TO THE REGISTRATION GOOGLE FORM TO FINISH YOUR REGISTRATION WITH YOUR TICKET NUMBER. HOPEFULLY YOU LET THE LINK OPEN, BUT HERE IS THE LINK AGAIN: COMBINE WEBSITE REGISTRATION.

Important Links

Call for Breakout Sessions and Tutorials
All attendees can suggest breakout sessions for hacking and/or detailed discussions of certain aspects of one or several of the COMBINE standard (s), metadata and semantic annotations (format-specific or overarching), application and implementations of the COMBINE standards, or any other topic relevant for the COMBINE community. The topics for those breakout sessions, and the time slots which would suit their communities can be submitted via the link above. Note, breakout session organisers will be responsible for creating and hosting their own online sessions, if required. Breakout sessions or tutorials can be submitted via this form. Please use several forms if you want to suggest breakouts or tutorials on different topics. After the submission deadline, we will schedule the sessions based on the availabilities of rooms. So, please provide all possible dates and time slots with your suggestion. Breakouts and tutorials submission deadline: September 28, 2025. Notification of acceptance for breakout and tutorials: October 6, 2025
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT BREAKOUT SUGGESTION
Call for Lightning Talks and Posters
Requests for a lightning talk (5 min max.) and/or poster can be submitted via the link above. Please use several forms if you want to submit abstracts on different topics. The submission deadline is outlined above. Talks will take place during the community session and posters will be displayed during a dedicated poster session at the meeting.

Topics of Interest

Data exchange, pipelines and model standards for systems and synthetic biology
Visualization and graphical notation standards for systems and synthetic biology
Standards for sharing and analysing biological pathway data
Standards for computational biological models and modelling support
Metadata description and model annotation in COMBINE standard formats
Implementation of COMBINE standards in tools, databases and other resources
Integrated model and data management for systems and synthetic biology

Suggestions for breakout sessions or tutorials can be submitted via the form below. Please use several forms if you want to suggest breakouts or tutorials on different topics. After the submission deadline, we will schedule the sessions based on the availabilities of rooms. So, please provide all possible dates and time slots with your suggestion. Lightning talk and poster submission deadline:
October 6, 2025. Notification of acceptance for lightning talks and posters: October 13, 2025.
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A LIGHTNING TALK
Accommodations and Conference Hotels
There are two conference hotels for COMBINE 2025, UW-Madison’s Union South Hotel and the DoubleTree Hotel. A block of rooms have been held and are available for workshop participants to book stays from October 19th-24th at a nightly rate of $186 USD (exclusive of taxes and any applicable fees).
Reservations must be made by September 28, 2025.

DoubleTree Hotel Downtown Madison – COMBINE 2025 (https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/msndtdt-com-9f9ba3f4-979e-4320-988e-43095848ebec/) DoubleTree is 0.4 miles from the Pyle Center with complimentary downtown and airport shuttle service.
Union South Hotel COMBINE 2025 (https://go.wisc.edu/hotel-combine-2025) Union South is 0.8 miles from the Pyle Center with complimentary parking.

https://co.mbine.org/author/combine-2025/

COMBINE 2025
2025-10-20 08:00 - 2025-10-21 00:00, 2025-10-21 00:00 - 2025-10-22 00:00, 2025-10-22 00:00 - 2025-10-23 00:00, 2025-10-23 00:00 - 2025-10-24 00:00 | Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
Computational Modeling in Biology (COMBINE) 2025 will be a workshop-style event hosted by the University of Wisconsin- Madison, USA.

Finding Your Place in Science
2025-10-20 15:00 - 17:00 | Discovery Building, 330 North Orchard Street, Orchard View Room, Madison, WI, 53715, United States
A reflective workshop on belonging, identity, and the paths of science, guided by Madison author, editor, and writing mentor. All Welcome.

Finding Your Place in Science: A Writing Workshop to Explore Scientific Identity
Oct. 20, 3 pm, Location: 1145 Discovery Building
Light snacks provided
Michelle Wildgen is an editor, teacher, and writer of literary fiction and essays, as well as the author of four novels and cofounder of the Madison Writers’ Studio.
A scientific identity – essentially, whether a person feels they belong in the world of science —is associated with longevity and success in STEM-related fields. But what does it mean to belong in science? Does it matter if you identify as a science person?
As part of the Wisconsin Science Festival, the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery is offering a writing workshop focused on scientific identity, aimed at undergrad and graduate students, but also open to the public. We’ll discuss some of the components researchers have identified as part of this sense of belonging in science; consider some of the conscious and unconscious assumptions we might have about who belongs in science; and expand our definitions and explore how varied a scientific identity can be. With a mix of discussion in small and large groups and impromptu writing, we’ll investigate the broad concept of an identity and how it can be useful in the face of obstacles. Finally, we’ll consider the more specific idea of belonging in the scientific realm, what helps you find that sense of belonging and what might prevent it.
This workshop is not solely for people who already feel they belong–plenty of people study and work in science without being certain if they do–but for anyone who is interested in using writing and discussion to consider and clarify what this concept of scientific identity means to you.

Finding Your Place in Science: Writing Workshop to Explore Scientific Identity
2025-10-20 15:00 - 17:00 | 1145 Discovery Building
Part of the Wisconsin Science Festival, hosted by WID. Michelle Wildgen—editor, teacher, and author—will lead a Wisconsin Science Festival writing workshop on scientific identity. Aimed at students but open to all, the session explores what it means to “belong in science.” Through discussion and writing, participants will examine assumptions about who fits in STEM, broaden ideas of identity, and reflect on how belonging (or not) shapes persistence in science. Registration required, limited space.
CONTACT: 316-4325, lredeagle@wisc.edu
URL: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/finding-your-place-in-science-tickets-1641129435319?aff=oddtdtcreator

The WhySci Variety Show
2025-10-21 19:00 - 21:00 | Majestic Theatre, 115 King Street, Madison, WI, 53703, United States
The most science-inspired variety show in town! Produced by the Wisconsin Science Festival and the UW-Madison Division of the Arts.

Get ready to rock your curiosity at the Why Sci Variety Show—a high-energy mashup of science talks, artful performances, and live music! This year’s theme is Rock and Roll, so expect brainy beats, geology jokes, and scientific showmanship that will have you thinking and tapping your toes.
Hosted by the always-entertaining Ben Rush and featuring tunes from our live house band: David Hecht & The Who Dat, this is edu-tainment at its finest. From ancient rocks to musical molecules, science and art collide in unexpected ways during this one-of-a-kind show.
Doors and bar open at 6:30pm – show starts at 7pm.
Register for your free tickets now!
Produced in partnership with the UW-Madison Division of the Arts and with support from The Anonymous Fund.

Intro to Docker/Podman
2025-10-22 09:00 - 13:00, 2025-10-23 09:00 - 13:00 | WI
Learn Skills for Research Software Engineering. This session aims to introduce the use of Docker containers with the goal of using them to effect reproducible computational environments. Such environments are useful for ensuring reproducible research outputs.
CONTACT: facilitator@datascience.wisc.edu
URL: https://uw-madison-datascience.github.io/2025-10-01-uwmadison-mini/

Crossroads of Ideas: Threading the Story of Earth's Oldest Rocks
2025-10-22 19:00 - 20:00 | Discovery Building, 330 North Orchard Street, Orchard View Room, Madison, WI, 53715, United States
Ancient geology meets modern creativity! Scientists studying the Earth’s oldest rocks collab with a textile artist to bring them to life!

Join us for a very special Wisconsin Science Festival edition of Crossroads of Ideas, where ancient geology meets modern creativity. This engaging evening features scientists Tyler Blum, Annie Bauer, and Emily Mixon, who have been studying the Earth’s oldest rocks – Acasta Gneiss (that’s pronounced “nice”) – and collaborating with local textile artist, Leah Evans, to bring 4-billion-year-old stories to life.
In conversation with UW-Madison Geology Museum Associate Director, Brooke Norsted, learn how these researchers and artist have explored deep time, planetary processes, and creative interpretation. Be among the first to experience the unveiling of Leah’s final artwork – an awe-inspiring textile piece created for the Geology Museum. Learn how curiosity, conversation, and collaboration turned billion-year-old rocks into an artistic and scientific celebration of deep time and deeper connections.
This event will take place in the DeLuca Forum in the UW-Madison Discovery Building.
Registration requested

Michelle Thaller: Cosmic Treasures
2025-10-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Discovery Building, 330 North Orchard Street, Orchard View Room, Madison, WI, 53715, United States
Chasing Asteroids for Clues to the Origins of Life

Join Michelle Thaller, former NASA science communicator, for an evening exploring the origins of life. Thaller, in conversation with Eric Wilcots, Dean of the College of Letters & Sciences and Professor in the Dept of Astronomy, will talk about the OSIRIS-REx mission – an audacious project to return a sample from an asteroid. No problem, right? Just chase down a small rock 200 million miles away, traveling literally faster than a speeding bullet, vacuum up a sample of its surface, and shoot it back to Earth. The story turned out to be more difficult, dramatic, and rewarding than anyone expected. Join us to find out why we went to so much trouble to bring back an ancient sample of our solar system and what was waiting inside that absolutely blew our minds. This event will take place in the DeLuca Forum in the Discovery Building.

WID Seminar Series: Tim Rogers
2025-10-24 10:00 - 11:00 | 3rd Floor Orchard View Room, Discovery Building (Also offered online)
Connecting Natural and Artificial Intelligence in Cognition and Neuroscience. WID Seminar Series: Collaborative Complex Systems: The Year of Discovery Fellows
Connecting Natural and Artificial Intelligence in Cognition and Neuroscience
Tim Rogers
WID Discovery Fellow
Psychology
With introduction by Rob Nowak, WID Faculty, Electrical & Computer Engineering
CONTACT: 316-4325, lredeagle@wisc.edu
URL: https://wid.wisc.edu/
ONLINE: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/98293855424

WID Seminar Series
2025-10-24 10:00 - 11:15 | Discovery Building, 330 North Orchard Street, Orchard View Room, Madison, WI, 53715, United States
Connecting natural and artificial intelligence in cognition and neuroscience

Collaborative Complex Systems: The Year of Discovery Fellows
Rob Nowak, WID Discovery Fellow and professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering introduces Tim Rogers, WID Discovery Fellow, professor of Psychology.

SoundWaves: Atomic Scale
2025-10-25 19:30 - 21:00 | Hamel Music Center, 740 University Avenue, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
This academic year, SoundWaves is exploring scales. Join us for this first edition diving into the atomic scale – and Klezmer scales!

Gaze into the world of the unimaginably small with an evening exploring the atomic scale. What is quantum computing and how does it work? How do atoms in metals organize themselves into hierarchies? As part of Klez Fest Midwest, this special SoundWaves event will feature more live music than ever, with the duo of Krakauer & Tagg, featuring brilliant klezmer clarinetist David Krakauer and pianist Kathleen Tagg, performing and explaining what gives klezmer music its characteristic style and sound (it’s all in the scales!).

Interactive Data Visualizations in Python and Streamlit
2025-10-29 09:00 - 13:00 | WI
Learn Skills for Research Software Engineering. This workshop lesson is an introduction to making interactive data visualizations in Python. Learners will create a new environment using conda, wrangle data into the proper format using pandas library, create visualizations using the Plotly Python library, and display these visualizations and create widgets using Streamlit.
CONTACT: facilitator@datascience.wisc.edu
URL: https://uw-madison-datascience.github.io/2025-10-01-uwmadison-mini/

Efficient KV-Cache Compression for Long-Context and Reasoning Models
2025-11-04 13:00 - 14:00 | Orchard View Room, Discovery Building (Also offered online)
ML+X Forum.
CONTACT: endemann@wisc.edu
URL: https://forms.gle/LhYFVzZvykmRAUeh8
ONLINE: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/92639425571?pwd=[REDACTED]

ML+Coffee: How Can I Apply ML/AI To My Data?
2025-11-05 09:00 - 11:00 | 1145 Discovery Building
ML+X Networking & Coworking.
CONTACT: endemann@wisc.edu
URL: https://forms.gle/Qrku5Dza6N3ZT3yAA

Crossroads of Ideas: Living and Learning with Animals
2025-11-12 19:00 - 20:00 | Discovery Building, 330 North Orchard Street, Orchard View Room, Madison, WI, 53715, United States
From the mellowest Labrador to the wiliest coyote, experts in animal behavior & wildlife management discuss human interactions with canines.

Join UW–Madison’s Dr. David Drake and Carroll University’s Dr. Mindy Waite for an engaging Crossroads of Ideas conversation exploring the dynamic relationship between humans and animals, both wild and domestic. From what we can teach animals to what they can teach us, how retrofitting animals into the human world has changed our relationships, and discovering new insights into behavior, adaptation, and the possibilities for living together in a changing world. Hosted by Director of the WID – Illuminating Discovery Hub.
