Research Partnerships

Researchers utilize the college’s Agricultural Research Stations as outdoor laboratories, classrooms and education centers to study agricultural and other sciences, often working with industry partners to address specific agricultural challenges

The Applied Population Lab specializes in translating social and economic data into useful information for Wisconsin’s citizens, policy makers, public agencies, private organizations and other state residents seeking to understand the demographic, social and economic changes taking place around them. The APL collaborates with a variety of clients, including local governments, state agencies, UW Cooperative Extension colleagues, non-profits and community-based organizations, and university faculty and researchers.

The Babcock Hall Dairy Plant is a research and teaching facility that specializes in dairy products, including yogurt, ice cream, fluid milk products, butter and cheese. Faculty researchers, graduate students and industry clients use the plant in their research to evaluate processes, ingredients and equipment.

Scientists at the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research explore the functional, flavor and physical properties of cheese and cheese products, as well as other milk components used as ingredients and finished products. The CDR is open to working with industry partners for special projects.

The Food Research Institute (FRI) is the portal to food safety at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. FRI’s mission is to catalyze multidisciplinary and collaborative research on microbial foodborne pathogens and toxins and to provide training, outreach, and service to enhance the safety of the food supply. FRI is a leader in identifying and resolving food safety issues to meet community, government and industry needs.

The Department of Food Science maintains three pilot plant facilities that are available on a fee-for-service basis for general food product processing studies, as well as equipment and process evaluations. Processing capabilities include: confectionary, fruit and vegetable, spray drying and general food/dairy.

Located in Babcock Hall, the Sensory Analysis Laboratory provides food sensory evaluation services to both industry and university researchers.

The Plant Disease Diagnostics Clinic (PDDC) provides assistance in identifying plant diseases, as well as educational information about plant diseases and their control.

The UW Soil and Forage Lab offers a wide range of diagnostic services to campus researchers and the general public. Services include soil, forage, manure and plant tissue analysis for anyone engaged in agriculture, commercial horticulture and home horticulture.

The UW-Madison Turfgrass Diagnostic Lab (TDL) provides fast and accurate diagnostic information and management recommendations for all turf health issues concerning both commercial turfgrass managers and homeowners.

The Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center (WCIC) is 100,000-square-foot plant biotechnology/greenhouse complex that houses a state-of-the-art transgenic plant laboratory. The facility supports scientific advancement opportunities to improve plants for humans, livestock, and the environment. WCIC provides cell culture, phenotyping and plant transformation services for researchers in public and private sectors.