Morgridge Institute for Research

10/15/2026

Today's the day we've all been waiting for...the 2026 Wisconsin Science Festival starts now! While we've been celebrating with pre-festival events, the official start date of the 2026 it today, October 15th! There are hundreds of events to explore all throughout the state over the next 10 days of curiosity and creativity.

Visit wiscifest.org to find an event near you and be sure to tag us in your festival experience!

10/15/2026

Happy Wisconsin Science Festival to all who celebrate! Ten days of science events across Wisconsin kicks off tonight with Science on the Square (rain or shine ☔️).

This year's festival is all about the Science of Us — and there's something for all of us with hundreds of events held in 56 counties. Hope to see you there!

Join Beesly and downtown Madison tomorrow evening, Oct 15th from 5-9pm for ! We are back with the for the year's best fusion event featuring hands-on science, live science shows, local businesses, scavenger hunts, and more! Don't miss out on this unique night on the town!
It's also the perfect opportunity to try the Ian's Pizza festival special, "What's the Buzz," inspired by our very own Beesly! Available at all three Madison locations for a limited time.

10/09/2026

Congratulations to UW–Madison physicist Francis Halzen on receiving the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics!

Halzen is the principal investigator of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory Observatory, the world’s largest neutrino telescope, and the Nobel Prize recognizes the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin through IceCube.

Behind those discoveries are decades of scientific collaboration — and significant computing power. 

Over the course of its work, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has developed a longstanding collaboration with UW–Madison’s Center for High Throughput Computing (CHTC), a joint endeavor of the Morgridge Institute and UW–Madison Computer Sciences within the College of Computing & Artificial Intelligence.

Learn more about the computing infrastructure and expertise that have helped support IceCube’s groundbreaking science at cai.wisc.edu

10/06/2026

Immense congratulations to Francis Halzen, a longtime collaborator of the Center for High Throughput Computing, on the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics! And to the whole IceCube Neutrino Observatory on this moment.

Halzen is the principal investigator of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, the world’s largest telescope.

10/05/2026

Teamwork makes the dream work!

A big shoutout to the Morgridge Institute for Research for spending the day volunteering at ReStore West!

From lending a helping hand to getting things done, your team helped make a difference behind the scenes at ReStore & we appreciate every minute you gave. 💙

Thanks for choosing to put your time to work for a good cause!

10/05/2026

The Acanthamoeba mitoproteome was mapped, revealing oxygen-driven metabolic shifts and potential targets for safer infection treatments.

10/01/2026

Meet Jon Stefely, the Morgridge Institute's new metabolism investigator! 🎉 The Stefely Lab pursues a core question: how does our human metabolism differ from our distant eukaryotic cousins — including pathogenic amoeba?

The lab focuses on the "eye-eating" Acanthamoeba castellanii, which can cause blinding eye infections and rare fatal brain infections.

Uncovering unique Acanthamoeba biochemistry that is *not* found in humans will lay the groundwork for much-needed safe and effective drug targets. It will also reveal fundamental insights into how cells adapt to their environment.

Stefely joined the Morgridge Institute and UW–Madison, in the department of biomolecular chemistry, in August from a postdoc at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

Learn more about Acanthamoeba and Stefely's vision for his research program here ➡️ https://morgridge.org/story/new-morgridge-lab-will-study-comparative-metabolism-to-uncover-biology-novel-drug-targets/

09/26/2026

More than than 70% of students enrolled in higher-ed attend "non-R1" institutions.

(R1 status applies to only those places that spend at least $50 million annually for research and award 70 or more research doctorates each year.)

Getting institutions of all sizes, engaging in all kinds of research and teaching, connected to a compute and data infrastructure will be a major thrust FabAID, a five-year award announced by the National Science Foundation (NSF) this summer.

The project will be led by Morgridge Institute for Research alongside members from University of Wisconsin-Madison and Swarthmore College.

Learn more here: https://morgridge.org/story/weaving-data-and-computing-into-a-nationwide-fabric-supporting-science/

09/26/2026

Thank you to our wonderful bronze sponsors - Alliant Energy, WiscNet, iHeart Media, Wisconsin Agriculture in the Classroom, UW-Madison's Division of the Arts, Madison Media Partners, PPG, and IFF!

Check out the hundreds of events as part of the 2026 Wisconsin Science Festival, October 15-25th Statewide, at wiscifest.org!

09/25/2026

Thank you to our smashing silver sponsors - Wisconsin Public Radio, ATC, and the Mid-West Farm Report!

Check out the hundreds of events as part of the 2026 Wisconsin Science Festival, October 15-25th Statewide, at wiscifest.org!