Academics

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a premier research university and is consistently one of the largest recipients of federal grants. The university has 64 biological departments providing great strengths in numerous fields that pertain to evolution and offering a rich environment for students of evolutionary biology. Training in Evolutionary Biology is available at the undergraduate and graduate level through a number of different departments.

Future Plans

In the future we plan to offer a track in Evolutionary Biology within the Biology Undergraduate Major. Likewise, we are working to develop a series of evolutionary biology options within a number of existing doctoral programs (e.g., Botany, Genetics, Zoology) and a graduate certificate in evolutionary biology.

Evolution Seminar Series

This seminar series meets weekly through both semesters and features seminars by members of the UW Evolutionary Biology community as well as invited speakers from other institutions. Refreshments are provided and everybody is invited to come early and stay late.  Speakers include post-docs, graduate students, and faculty. The seminar dates and speakers are listed on the Seminars and Readings page.  The graduate school is gratefully acknowledged for supporting this seminar series.

Evolution Reading Group

An informal group of students (undergraduate and graduate), post-docs, and faculty meets during the semester in alternate weeks and weekly during the summer (on the Memorial Union Terrace). This group generally works through an important book or reads a series of important, classic papers. Recent books include: The Structure of Evolutionary Biology (Gould), Major Transitions in Evolution (Maynard Smith and Szathmary), Genetics and the Origin of Species (Dobzansky), and Tempo and Mode in Evolution (Simpson). For the current schedule see the events page.

Graduate Programs

The Graduate Programs page provides information for students interested in beginning a course of study in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Wisconsin. It includes guidelines on how to look for an advisor, information about course work, and links to the many departments and graduate programs involved in evolutionary research.