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

Jeri Barak and Kim Cowles, Plant Pathology, wanted to automate the data collection process of their experiments: segmenting images of leaves into healthy, lesioned, and not-leaf areas. DSI worked with them to develop an image processing application that automated a time-consuming, manual process.
“Every time, walking back from DSI, Kim and I were energized and excited about doing science.” —Jeri Barak
On Campus
Events
- February
- February 12
- February 13
- February 14
Campus Highlights
DSI Affiliate Ilias Diakonikolas Awarded WARF Romnes Fellowship
Diakonikolas studies the algorithmic foundations of massive data sets and works on designing efficient algorithms for fundamental problems in machine learning.
DSI-Plant Pathology Partnership Blooms With New Publication
DSI's Arjun Iyer and Iain McConnell worked with Kim Cowles and Jeri Barak, Plant Pathology, to create a Streamlit app for leaf area and lesion analysis.
Jelena Diakonikolas Receives NSF CAREER Award
DSI Affiliate Jelena Diakonikolas recently received a NSF CAREER Award for a proposal inspired by a DSI event on climate-smart agriculture and forestry.
Chen Receives Vilas Award
DSI Affiliate Kaiping Chen was honored with a UW–Madison Vilas Faculty Investigator Award. Her work focuses on computational social science.
Machine Learning Models Identify Promising Polymers for Tech Innovation
DSI Affiliate Ying Li led a UW-Madison research team that trained machine-learning models to identify high-performing polymers for film capacitors.
- More highlights
Points of Pride
53
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
Explore Potential and Limits of AI and ML at the Research Bazaar
Calling all data enthusiasts! Get ready to dive into the world of AI and machine learning at the 6th annual Data Science Research Bazaar, hosted by the Data Science Hub on March 19-20.
Submit a Nomination for the Inaugural UW-Madison Open Awards
The UW–Madison Open Awards recognize and celebrate those using open practices in their work and who are inspiring others to do the same.
The Ethics of Conservation Genetics
A team of researchers at UW–Madison is exploring intersections between conservation, genetics, ethics, and data science. The big picture is to lay the groundwork for technically and ethically sound research for all future conservation genetics work — and learn which conditions can make that work possible.
RABBIT a Leap Forward for Campus Collaboration and Industry Engagement
The Office of Business Engagement (OBE) and Data Science Institute (DSI) have launched a new tool that helps university faculty and staff discover relevant research, shared interests and potential collaborators across campus.
NSF HDR ML Challenge
Participants will tackle one of the most exciting frontiers in scientific research: anomaly detection. DSI and WIPAC hosted the Dec. 4 kickoff meeting.
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RISE-AI Initiative
The Wisconsin RISE Initiative is designed to address challenges of importance to Wisconsin and the world, and artificial intelligence is a focus area. Over the next three to five years, RISE-AI will accelerate the growth of UW–Madison’s network of AI innovators.
DSI leadership in campus AI includes co-hosting MadPrompts – the first generative AI prompt battle in the US, and the Exploring Artificial Intelligence @ UW–Madison seminar series.