Campus news Latest News
Laura McLay: Crunching data on high-risk scenarios
Laura McLay’s research canvas is massive data — banks of millions of emergency 911 calls, commercial airline flights and ship cargo deliveries — which she uses to help improve decision-making in these high-stakes endeavors. Read More
‘Markets with Frictions’ is topic of second UW–Madison MOOC
“Markets with Frictions” probably wasn’t a topic of conversation at the last party you attended — unless you’re an economist. UW–Madison finance professor Randall Wright wants to change that. Leading the second pilot Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) at UW–Madison, Wright’s “Markets with Frictions” begins Oct. 30, bringing economic theory to a wider audience. Read More
Information sessions will update HR Design timeline and progress
The next in a series of quarterly information sessions updating the campus community on the HR Design project are set for November. Read More
Astronaut scholarship honors undergrad’s adventures in research
Even in the University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Engineering, where undergraduates are encouraged to seek hands-on experience, it’s rare that a faculty member finds himself taken aback by a freshman’s eagerness to get involved in research. Read More
H5N1 bird flu genes show nature can pick worrisome traits
In a study published today (Oct. 23, 2013) in Nature Communications, an international team of researchers shows how evolution can favor mutations that make avian flu more transmissible in mammals. Read More
Changes ahead for spring undergraduate commencement ceremonies
Over the past three years, students looking ahead to their University of Wisconsin–Madison graduation have discussed several potential changes to the structure of spring commencement exercises. Read More
Now you see it: Airplane images reveal sand dunes in heart of Badger State
Newly created laser images of central Wisconsin show fields of dunes, most of which have never been seen before, that were blowing in the wind as recently as about 11,000 years ago. Read More
Rec Sports seeks feedback on facilities
The Division of Recreational Sports wants your feedback on its facilities and is gauging interest on whether they need to be renovated or replaced. Read More
Teatime becoming an institution at institutes
For David Krakauer, a cup of tea has long been as much a part of the research process as beakers, computers and lab benches. Read More
Hitchhiking virus confirms saga of ancient human migration
A study of the full genetic code of a common human virus offers a dramatic confirmation of the "out-of-Africa" pattern of human migration, which had previously been documented by anthropologists and studies of the human genome. Read More
WARF Innovation Award winners offer a better oat, infection disrupter
A new oat offering tasty ways to lower cholesterol and compounds capable of disrupting serious bacterial infections earned top honors in this year's Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Innovation Awards program. Read More
New techniques sharpen climate record found in fossil shells
Locked inside the fossil shells of a marine plankton are the secrets of past climate. Read More
Biomanufacturing center takes central role in developing stem-cell therapies
Developing a new drug takes enormous amounts of time, money and skill, but the bar is even higher for a promising stem-cell therapy. Many types of cells derived from these ultra-flexible parent cells are moving toward the market, but the very quality that makes stem cells so valuable also makes them a difficult source of therapeutics. Read More
Target of animal rights protests kicks off animal research ethics forum
Any research that includes animals presents ethical questions, but they are questions Dario Ringach believes we rarely address together. Read More
Ballots being mailed for first-ever classified staff election
Classified staff members will soon receive ballots for UW–Madison’s first-ever Classified Staff Executive Committee. Nine people will be elected from a field of 92 candidates, representing nearly 5,000 employees. Completed ballots must be returned or postmarked by Oct. 30. Read More
Ilona Kombrink, celebrated professor of voice, dies at 80
Every story about Ilona Kombrink had a sort of mythic quality. Her career as a University of Wisconsin–Madison voice professor was literally the stuff of legends, whispered down the halls of the Humanities Building in her wake. Read More
Study puts freshwater biodiversity on the map
When it comes to economic growth and environmental impacts, it can seem like Newton's third law of motion is the rule - for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction - and that in most cases, the economy prospers and the environment suffers. Read More
The sun also flips: 11-year solar cycle wimpy, but peaking
In a 3-meter diameter hollow aluminum sphere, Cary Forest, a University of Wisconsin–Madison physics professor, is stirring and heating plasmas to 500,000 degrees Fahrenheit to experimentally mimic the magnetic field-inducing cosmic dynamos at the heart of planets, stars and other celestial bodies. Read More
Film festival explores environmental futures amid rapid global change
Profound questions about possible futures - precipitated by a changing climate, shifting energy resources, and the movement and displacement of people across the globe - will be explored during the Tales from Planet Earth film festival in Madison Nov. 1-3. Read More
Business students launch app to ‘Fetch’ grocery deals
Wes Schroll was frustrated with his Target coupons. Sure, they were tailored to his purchase history, and the expiration date was far away. Yet, by the time his next trip to Target rolled around, he’d misplaced them again. A lifelong entrepreneur and Wisconsin School of Business student, he knew there had to be a better way to find deals. Read More