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 Researchers Among Data Science Institute Mini Grant Recipients
WID News
Jon Eckhardt, Robert Nowak, and Kevin Ponto were among the recipients of nine mini grants from the American Family Insurance Data Science Institute to advance data science.
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New Tool for Assessing Heart Muscle Cells Helps Unlock Their Potential
Featured Science
A team of UW-Madison researchers led by Discovery Fellow Wendy Crone has created a powerful tool to help assess what experimental factors help to produce stem cell-generated cardiomyocytes that behave like adult heart cells.
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Critical Communications Component Made on a Flexible Wooden Film
WID News
WID's Shaoqin "Sarah" Gong is a collaborator on a paper published in Nature Communications in which UW engineers constructed a functional microwave amplifier circuit on a substrate of cellulose nanofibril paper, a wood product.
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Research on Viral Junk, Quicker Drug Testing Could Help Outflank Coronaviruses
Featured Science
John Yin is working to find out whether "junk" particles produced by mouse viruses exist in human coronaviruses, and whether they may be the key to understanding how the viruses spread and interact with host cells.
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Yin Receives Two National Science Foundation Grants to Study Coronaviruses
WID News
John Yin has received a National Science Foundation Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant and an Early-Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) to work on projects related to human coronaviruses.
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Researchers at UW–Madison Lead Data Science Coalition to Aid with COVID-19
WID News
WID's Data Science Hub is part of the COVID-19 Data Science Research Group that is interpreting data, using that data to create models, and sharing information and findings.
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