The world is made up of complex systems, from power grids and neural networks to fish migration and microbial communities. Researchers at WID work to characterize, model, and understand such systems to make advances in medicine, agriculture, technology, the environment, and more.
Systems Biology
We use computational and mathematical tools alongside laboratory studies to understand interactions within complex biological systems.
Microbiome
We study the communities of microorganisms that live on or in people, plants, soil, oceans, and the atmosphere and which influence human health and ecosystems.
Multi-Omics
We are working to manage and utilize massive biological data sets to understand gene regulation, cellular reprogramming, precision medicine, and more.
Data Science
From fundamental mathematics to optimization and machine learning, our data science research is making sense of complex systems.
Complex Systems Faculty
See all WID Faculty
Complexity underlies nearly all research at WID. Our faculty study diverse systems, from power grids to microbial communities and everything in between. Below are some of the WID faculty working on complex systems.
Alberto Del Pia
Industrial & Systems Engineering
John Denu
Biomolecular Chemistry
Michael Ferris
Computer Sciences
Jo Handelsman
Plant Pathology
Laurent Lessard
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Sushmita Roy
Biostatistics & Medical Informatics
Daniel Pimentel-Alarcon
Biostatistics & Medical Informatics
Claudia Solís-Lemus
Plant Pathology
Thomas Rutherford
Agricultural & Applied Economics
Karen Schloss
Psychology
John Yin
Chemical & Biological Engineering
Xuehua Zhong
Laboratory of Genetics
WID alumnus awarded first AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship in the U.S. Department of the Treasury
WID News
WID and Saha Lab alumnus, and current postdoc at the Morgridge Institute for Research, Amritava Das anticipates that he will put his engineering and bioscience training to use exploring the sometimes knotty connections between science, national security, and finance.
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UW researchers join three national artificial intelligence institutes
WID News
Institute for Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence (AI-EDGE) led by Robert Nowak, UW–Madison professor of electrical and computer engineering and researchers at Ohio State.
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Molecular Puzzles in 3D: Understanding a Mechanism for Methylation
Featured Science
A new publication from the Xuehua Zhong’s group at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery and the genetics department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison clarifies an important epigenetic mechanism in plants that will help researchers better understand the epigenomes of both plants and animals.
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Undergraduate Researcher Helps Fill in the Blanks on Virus Lifecycle
Wisconsin Stories
Tianyi “Herry” Jin, an undergraduate in John Yin's lab group at WID and the department of chemical and biological engineering, published discoveries about viruses in the journal Integrative Biology.
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NSF Supports Interdisciplinary Pandemic Prevention Workshops
WID News
WID's John Yin is part of a team assembling February workshops on predictive intelligence for pandemic prevention.
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Thompson Center Badgercast: Michael Ferris
Wisconsin Stories
WID's Michael Ferris joined the Thompson Center on Public Leadership to discuss a data-based planning tool called “Wisconsin Expansion of Renewable Electricity with Optimization under Long-term Forecasts” (WEREWOLF) he developed with Thompson Center faculty research funding.
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