Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
@widofficial.bsky.social
We are an interdisciplinary institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison exploring simplicity in complex systems at the intersection of digital and natural worlds.
David Fields (UW-Madison Department of East Asian Studies) and Rob Nowak (UW-Madison Computer, Data & Information Sciences) will explore what happens when AI technology falls short. They’ll discuss what failure in AI can teach us, and how it can inspire innovation, critical thinking, and resilience.
January 29, 2026 at 7:02 PM
David Fields (UW-Madison Department of East Asian Studies) and Rob Nowak (UW-Madison Computer, Data & Information Sciences) will explore what happens when AI technology falls short. They’ll discuss what failure in AI can teach us, and how it can inspire innovation, critical thinking, and resilience.
Wisconsin Institute for Discovery congratulates Dr. Cassandra Leech who was recently honored with the Wisconsin initiative for science literacy award for communicating PhD research to the public.
January 29, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Wisconsin Institute for Discovery congratulates Dr. Cassandra Leech who was recently honored with the Wisconsin initiative for science literacy award for communicating PhD research to the public.
WID is excited to announce @sroyyors.bsky.social Lab has created a software tool that can help reveal biological pathways of a notorious pathogenic fungus. Aspergillus fumigatus, which is found worldwide, can infiltrate a human body and quickly overwhelm the immune system. go.wisc.edu/012826roy
Deciphering the Regulatory Network of a Pathogenic Fungus
Image credit: Katherine Baldwin
In a new study, researchers from the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery (WID)
go.wisc.edu
January 28, 2026 at 10:17 PM
WID is excited to announce @sroyyors.bsky.social Lab has created a software tool that can help reveal biological pathways of a notorious pathogenic fungus. Aspergillus fumigatus, which is found worldwide, can infiltrate a human body and quickly overwhelm the immune system. go.wisc.edu/012826roy
Failure is often seen as a setback—but in science and entrepreneurship, it can be the spark that drives breakthroughs. In this 1st installment of our Productive Failure Mini-Series, explore how missteps, unexpected results, and strategic pivots shape discovery, strengthen ideas, & fuel innovation.
January 12, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Failure is often seen as a setback—but in science and entrepreneurship, it can be the spark that drives breakthroughs. In this 1st installment of our Productive Failure Mini-Series, explore how missteps, unexpected results, and strategic pivots shape discovery, strengthen ideas, & fuel innovation.
SAVE THE DATE! Part 1 of our Productive Failure mini-series! Crossroads of Ideas: How Failure Fuels Innovation. Featuring @sahakris.bsky.social, @jon-eckhardt.bsky.social, and Adhira Sunkara.www.eventbrite.com/e/crossroads...
December 17, 2025 at 8:34 PM
SAVE THE DATE! Part 1 of our Productive Failure mini-series! Crossroads of Ideas: How Failure Fuels Innovation. Featuring @sahakris.bsky.social, @jon-eckhardt.bsky.social, and Adhira Sunkara.www.eventbrite.com/e/crossroads...
Long before science caught up, Vincent Van Gogh sensed a connection between melancholy and microbes. Now, 135 years later, WID, @centerhealthyminds.bsky.social, PRECISE, and MIT have a project that investigates the microbiome’s role in human well-being and the power of interdisciplinary research.
Researchers at UW–Madison Receive Major Grant to Study the Link Between Mental Health and the Microbiome
Vincent van Gogh - Self-portrait with bandaged ear (1889, Courtauld Institute)
Long before science caught up, Vincent Van Gogh sensed a connection between melancholy and microbes. In a letter
wid.wisc.edu
December 17, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Long before science caught up, Vincent Van Gogh sensed a connection between melancholy and microbes. Now, 135 years later, WID, @centerhealthyminds.bsky.social, PRECISE, and MIT have a project that investigates the microbiome’s role in human well-being and the power of interdisciplinary research.
In collaboration with @enginlab.bsky.social, Khahani Eynullazada, a grad student from @sroyyors.bsky.social Lab identified gene regulatory networks capturing shared and perturbation-specific stress pathways in Type 1 diabetes using GRN inference tools on scRNA-seq data from in vivo mouse models.
How disabling one gene protects mice against Type 1 diabetes
UW–Madison researchers have discovered a mechanism that could one day help people at risk of developing the metabolic disease.
news.wisc.edu
December 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
In collaboration with @enginlab.bsky.social, Khahani Eynullazada, a grad student from @sroyyors.bsky.social Lab identified gene regulatory networks capturing shared and perturbation-specific stress pathways in Type 1 diabetes using GRN inference tools on scRNA-seq data from in vivo mouse models.
TONIGHT! ❄❄❄Due to the predicted inclement weather, we are also offering a virtual attendance option (uwmadison.zoom.us/j/91451748806).❄❄❄
December 9, 2025 at 6:42 PM
TONIGHT! ❄❄❄Due to the predicted inclement weather, we are also offering a virtual attendance option (uwmadison.zoom.us/j/91451748806).❄❄❄
SAVE THE DATE! This Crossroads of Ideas conversation will pull back the curtain on quantum science, revealing its surprising role in shaping the present, and the future, we all share. Presented in celebration of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
November 25, 2025 at 4:47 PM
SAVE THE DATE! This Crossroads of Ideas conversation will pull back the curtain on quantum science, revealing its surprising role in shaping the present, and the future, we all share. Presented in celebration of 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
Join us on November 21 at 10am for WID Discovery Fellow Bilge Mutlu to share his research 'Designing for Integration: Bringing Embodied AI into the Real World'. A truly timely presentation open to the public. More info on WID Faculty Seminars at wid.wisc.edu/all-events/w...
November 11, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Join us on November 21 at 10am for WID Discovery Fellow Bilge Mutlu to share his research 'Designing for Integration: Bringing Embodied AI into the Real World'. A truly timely presentation open to the public. More info on WID Faculty Seminars at wid.wisc.edu/all-events/w...
Join UW–Madison’s David Drake and Carroll University’s Mindy Waite to explore the relationship between humans and animals, both wild and domestic. How retrofitting animals into the human world has enabled new insights into behavior, adaptation, and the possibilities for living together.
October 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Join UW–Madison’s David Drake and Carroll University’s Mindy Waite to explore the relationship between humans and animals, both wild and domestic. How retrofitting animals into the human world has enabled new insights into behavior, adaptation, and the possibilities for living together.
Our director @johandelsman.bsky.social weighs in with @nytimes.com essayist @katrinamillerphd.bsky.social about the value of basic research and its relation to the #NobelPrize.
Nobel Prizes This Year Offer Three Cheers for Slow Science
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Our director @johandelsman.bsky.social weighs in with @nytimes.com essayist @katrinamillerphd.bsky.social about the value of basic research and its relation to the #NobelPrize.
We congratulate Chandrani Kumari from the @sroyyors.bsky.social Lab for her first place poster at the 2025 UW–Madison postdoctoral symposium.
October 7, 2025 at 9:35 PM
We congratulate Chandrani Kumari from the @sroyyors.bsky.social Lab for her first place poster at the 2025 UW–Madison postdoctoral symposium.
Reposted by Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
Shaoqin "Sarah" Gong creates novel biomaterials and nanomaterials, bridging engineering with materials science, chemistry and the life sciences. #WARF100 @uwchancellor.bsky.social @widofficial.bsky.social https://www.warf.org/commercialize/uw-madison-inventor-profiles/gong/
August 21, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Shaoqin "Sarah" Gong creates novel biomaterials and nanomaterials, bridging engineering with materials science, chemistry and the life sciences. #WARF100 @uwchancellor.bsky.social @widofficial.bsky.social https://www.warf.org/commercialize/uw-madison-inventor-profiles/gong/
Reposted by Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
Why work with WARF?
"It is extremely challenging to be a professor and work to translate technology from your laboratory to the commercial sector. WARF has drastically facilitated this process," says Randolph Ashton, CEO and co-founder of Neurosetta.
#WisconsinInnovates
"It is extremely challenging to be a professor and work to translate technology from your laboratory to the commercial sector. WARF has drastically facilitated this process," says Randolph Ashton, CEO and co-founder of Neurosetta.
#WisconsinInnovates
September 15, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Why work with WARF?
"It is extremely challenging to be a professor and work to translate technology from your laboratory to the commercial sector. WARF has drastically facilitated this process," says Randolph Ashton, CEO and co-founder of Neurosetta.
#WisconsinInnovates
"It is extremely challenging to be a professor and work to translate technology from your laboratory to the commercial sector. WARF has drastically facilitated this process," says Randolph Ashton, CEO and co-founder of Neurosetta.
#WisconsinInnovates
Congratulations to WID faculty member Rupa Sridharan on earning an H.I. Romnes award.
July 8, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Congratulations to WID faculty member Rupa Sridharan on earning an H.I. Romnes award.
Congratulations to WID Discovery Fellow, Tim Kamp on his WARF named professorship.
July 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Congratulations to WID Discovery Fellow, Tim Kamp on his WARF named professorship.
Congrats to Giulia Scimonelli from the @sahakris.bsky.social Lab. The research award, funded by grants from Brittingham Wisconsin Trust, Knapp Bequest, and UW Division for Teaching and Learning, allows her to study T Cell Phenotype Enrichment Through mRNA Delivery for Enhanced CAR-T Manufacturing.
May 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Congrats to Giulia Scimonelli from the @sahakris.bsky.social Lab. The research award, funded by grants from Brittingham Wisconsin Trust, Knapp Bequest, and UW Division for Teaching and Learning, allows her to study T Cell Phenotype Enrichment Through mRNA Delivery for Enhanced CAR-T Manufacturing.
Congratulations to WID: undergraduate researchers, Tianyi Xu, Solís-Lemus Lab; and Nolan You, Yin Lab for recently being inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. We acknowledge your hard work in your labs and contribution to our institute.
May 5, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Congratulations to WID: undergraduate researchers, Tianyi Xu, Solís-Lemus Lab; and Nolan You, Yin Lab for recently being inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. We acknowledge your hard work in your labs and contribution to our institute.
Reposted by Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
CLS stormed Capitol Hill Thursday, delivering our message of the terrible consequences from abrupt terminations of grants.
www.coalitionforlifesciences.org/cls-calls-on...
@needhibhalla.bsky.social @johandelsman.bsky.social
www.coalitionforlifesciences.org/cls-calls-on...
@needhibhalla.bsky.social @johandelsman.bsky.social
April 28, 2025 at 1:49 PM
CLS stormed Capitol Hill Thursday, delivering our message of the terrible consequences from abrupt terminations of grants.
www.coalitionforlifesciences.org/cls-calls-on...
@needhibhalla.bsky.social @johandelsman.bsky.social
www.coalitionforlifesciences.org/cls-calls-on...
@needhibhalla.bsky.social @johandelsman.bsky.social
Reposted by Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
My department did a story about a new optimization course I’ve been working on- Something between “Intro modeling” and “Nuts and bolts of methods/theory” that I felt was missing
engineering.wisc.edu/news/new-adv...
engineering.wisc.edu/news/new-adv...
New advanced optimization course provides industry preparation - College of Engineering - University of Wisconsin-Madison
Industrial engineering students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who are interested in learning the basics of optimization—mathematical techniques that can solve problems such as choosing the qu...
engineering.wisc.edu
April 24, 2025 at 6:57 PM
My department did a story about a new optimization course I’ve been working on- Something between “Intro modeling” and “Nuts and bolts of methods/theory” that I felt was missing
engineering.wisc.edu/news/new-adv...
engineering.wisc.edu/news/new-adv...
Final WID Seminar of the semester! Join us on April 29 at 1pm for Schloss Lab presenting Perceptual semantics for visual and haptic communication. More info at wid.wisc.edu/all-events/w...
April 23, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Final WID Seminar of the semester! Join us on April 29 at 1pm for Schloss Lab presenting Perceptual semantics for visual and haptic communication. More info at wid.wisc.edu/all-events/w...
Reposted by Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
Please share the letter from the Coalition for the Life Sciences re termination of ongoing NIH grants. It's a breach trust betw researchers and govt, bad for trainees, potentially fatal for patients in clinical trials, and diminishes the US science. www.coalitionforlifesciences.org/cls-calls-on...
CLS Calls on the Trump Administration to Restore Research Funding - The Coalition for the Life Sciences
On April 14, 2025, CLS Chair Jo Handelsman and Exec Director Adrienne Hallett sent a letter outlining the tremendous consequences of terminating research and asking that it be reinstated.
www.coalitionforlifesciences.org
April 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Please share the letter from the Coalition for the Life Sciences re termination of ongoing NIH grants. It's a breach trust betw researchers and govt, bad for trainees, potentially fatal for patients in clinical trials, and diminishes the US science. www.coalitionforlifesciences.org/cls-calls-on...
THIS FRIDAY! Featuring Christopher Taylor on piano.
Now would be a great time to reserve your seat for our final SoundWaves of the season taking place at the beautiful Hamel Music Center, Mead Witter Foundation Concert Hall (740 University Avenue) on April 11th at 7:30pm. Invite your friends and make a night of it! go.wisc.edu/soundwaves
April 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM
THIS FRIDAY! Featuring Christopher Taylor on piano.
Join us on April 22nd! We are part of the Earthfest Celebration!
April 4, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Join us on April 22nd! We are part of the Earthfest Celebration!