The University of Wisconsin–Madison Data Science Institute, powered by a generous gift from American Family Insurance, is central to the university’s strategic priority to grow its research enterprise and expand its global impact.
Advancing the Forefront of Data Science Research
Featured research collaboration:
Evaluation of Fungicides for Soybean White Mold
Sclerotinia stem rot, also known as white mold, is ranked third among the top soybean diseases in the northern United States. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the efficacy of fungicide treatments on disease reduction and their subsequent impact on grain yield. This analysis resulted in a custom website for farmers and an API for agricultural practitioners.
“This project is being led by a great team of researchers from across the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the Plant Pathology Department and Data Science Institute, and North Dakota State University.”
–Richard Webster, Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University
On Campus
RISE-AI Collaboration HQ
A campus-wide effort called RISE-AI Collaboration HQ is helping to foster new research communities, build connections on campus and off, improve funding opportunities, and enhance teaching and engagement as part of the RISE-AI Initiative.
DSI Director Kyle Cranmer is leading the effort and says: “I’m looking forward to working with campus to incubate and support communities around promising AI research topics that tap into our strengths as a university.”
Campus Highlights
Kyle Cranmer Awarded Prize for AI in Science
The inaugural Pritzker Prize in AI for Science recognizes Cranmer's contributions to simulation-based inference, which enables statistical analysis of data in situations where it was not previously possible.
Song Gao Receives Clarivate Award for Citations
DSI Affiliate Dr. Song Gao has been honored as a 2025 Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate. Nineteen professors and researchers from UW–Madison made the 2025 list.
PBS Features Taylor Odle’s Research on UW’s Direct Admission Programs
Odle, a DSI Affiliate, spoke with PBS Wisconsin's Here and Now about the impacts of these programs on UW system admissions of in-state high school students.
New Publication Addresses AI in Physics
In this paper, DSI Affiliates Moritz Münchmeyer and Fred Sala, and former DSI staff member Maja Waldron, introduce a benchmark to evaluate the capability of AI to solve problems in theoretical physics.
DSI Affiliates Receive Inaugural Google ML and Systems Junior Faculty Awards
Jelena Diakonikolas and Sharon Li were recognized as up-and-coming talent whose work intersects machine learning (ML) and systems.
- More highlights
Points of Pride
66
DSI Faculty and Staff Affiliates
at UW–Madison
$20 M
Research grants where DSI leads
or is a partner
+$6M
Industry-sponsored grants for 55 campus research projects
Data Science News
DSI Seminar: How to Learn Without Data
This Nov. 20 seminar covered the origins of zero-shot prediction, its latest incarnations in computer vision and language modeling, and current opportunities and challenges.
Data Science Institute Director Kyle Cranmer awarded inaugural prize for AI in science
Kyle Cranmer, professor of physics and director of the Data Science Institute at UW–Madison, has been honored with the inaugural Pritzker Prize in AI for Science for his role in establishing a powerful new approach to data analysis that leverages advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence.
UW–Madison partners with Microsoft and TitletownTech to accelerate AI-driven scientific discovery
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is partnering with Microsoft and TitletownTech on a new collaboration designed to accelerate scientific discovery through artificial intelligence.
Plonsky Will Address AI in Academic Publishing
We might not question a researcher who asks ChatGPT to summarize an article. But what about asking generative AI to analyze data or distill submission-ready abstracts? Dr. Luke Plonsky will address this topic at a brown bag talk on Nov. 6.
Data Science Institute Welcomes New AI Faculty to Campus
DSI recently hosted a reception welcoming new RISE-AI faculty to UW–Madison, providing them with an opportunity to meet and identify shared research interests with DSI’s faculty and staff affiliates.
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Events
- December 2025
- December 5Exploring AI in Teaching: Student PerspectivesCenter for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring12:00 PM, Online
- December 15"Introduction to AI and American National Security": In-Person Badger Talk in DeForest, WIPresenter: Dave Schroeder6:30 PM, 203 Library Street, DeForest, WI 53532
- January 2026
- January 16
- January 30Generative AI throughout the Research Cycle: Ethical ConsiderationsA panel for the 2025-26 series on AI and Research in Language Studies 3:00 PM, 1418 Van Hise Hall