WID’s Illuminating Discovery Hub was created in 2017 and uses an array of functions to bring science to a broad community. The Hub is enabling WID to break down stereotypes of science, and importantly, the people who do it. The Hubs’ programs are designed to help build a culture that actively fosters inclusivity and a scientific workforce that reflects the diversity of society. It is through these Hub activities that we seek to illustrate the possibilities of whimsical imagination and earnest curiosity to engage people in using discovery to re-imagine the future. The Illuminating Discovery Hub accomplishes through programs that unite science and art, and bridges experts with communities all around the world.
The Illuminating Discovery Hub, headquartered at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, reaches beyond the lab through partnerships with the outreach infrastructure of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation’s Town Center, the Morgridge Institute for Research, and other campus and national organizations to establish bridges among scientists, professional communicators, and members of the public. In collaboration with bioethicists, journalists, social scientists, media producers, and campus communicators, the Hub offers training programs in effective science communication, public discourse, and media representation. The Hub facilitates campus-wide, community, and national discussions about illuminating discovery, science and engineering research, the role of science and technology in society, and the image of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians.
The Illuminating Discovery Hub, like the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery’s other hubs, is new and still growing. We encourage you to join us in building a collaborative community.