WISER 2026 at UW Milwaukee

The WiSER conference is an opportunity for Wisconsin & regional scientists at all career levels to disseminate their work, collaborate, network, and generally experience what a scientific conference is all about.

Appropriate fields of research include: Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Geology, Mathematical & Data Sciences, Neuroscience, Physics & Astronomy, plus Biomedical Sciences & Biomedical Engineering.

Who should attend: We welcome scientists at all career levels, including undergraduates, grad students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and industry professionals from related fields of science.

Registration

is closed

Questions? Please contact:

wiser-2026-inquiries@uwm.edu

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. Michael Dairyko, PhD

Senior Director of Business Strategy & Analytics at the Milwaukee Bucks

Dr. Dairyko received his Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Pomona College and his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Iowa State University. He has served as both a STEM and Business Educator at multiple institutions before joining the sports industry, where he leverages data science and applied mathematics to inform business decisions. Dr. Dairyko has supported both the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks organizations.

Talk title

Where Science Meets Strategy: Using Data to Drive Decisions

FINAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

The conference location will be in a few buildings very close to the Student Union, including the Union itself as well as some of the science buildings across the street: the new Chemistry Building, the Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Complex , and the Engineering and Mathematical Science (EMS) Building.

Address of the Student Union: 2200 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, WI 53211

There is parking info here: https://uwm.edu/transportation/parking/rates/daily-hourly-parking/

Full schedule with speakers and poster presenters, along with participants in the career fair can be found here:

Wisconsin Science Education and Research Consortium (WiSER) Conference – Letters & Science

Friday, November 6

12 PM: Arrival and Check-in

1-4 PM: Career and Educational Fair (register for a booth below)

5:15-6:15 PM: Welcome & Keynote Address

6:30-8 PM: Poster Session I & Reception, with refreshments provided

Saturday, November 7

8:30-10 AM: Poster Session II

10-11:30 AM: Parallel sessions by discipline

11:45-12:45 PM: Lunch with Experts

1-3:30 PM: Parallel sessions by discipline

3:30-4 PM: Break

4-5 PM: Parallel Panel Sessions

Enjoy dinner on your own in Milwaukee

Sunday, November 8

8:30-10 AM: Parallel sessions by discipline

10:15-11 AM: Invited talks

11-12 PM: Awards ceremony and closing remarks

CAREER & EDUCATION FAIR

Friday, November 6th, 1 - 4 PM

A Full list of participating companies and academic programs can be found here:

Wisconsin Science Education and Research Consortium (WiSER) Conference – Letters & Science

HOTEL & ACCOMMODATIONS

We are currently working on fundraising in hopes of providing free or heavily subsidized shared lodging for (non-local) undergraduate students who are presenting talks or posters. If you would like to support our efforts please check out our sponsor information below.

Our primary conference hotel will be "The Marc Hotel". Run by the Marcus Hotels & Resorts company, which runs other successful hotels such as Milwaukee's The Pfister, as well as St Kate - The Arts Hotel, and the Grand Geneva Resort and Spa at Lake Geneva, it's a newly opened (Jan 2026) renovation of the west wing of the Hilton Milwaukee. The Marc is located in downtown Milwaukee, near many dining and entertainment options. There is a connected, covered parking garage structure.

Our group rate is $140/night.

We have a block of rooms reserved for Friday and Saturday nights, check-in 11/6, check-out 11/8.
For those wishing to arrive early or stay late, the group rate in fact will extend for 3 days pre- or post- block.
The group block qualifies you for complimentary wireless internet and discounted overnight parking at $25/vehicle per day.
Rooms feature mini-fridge, coffee & tea makers.

Our block is held until October 16, 2026, but we strongly encourage reservations to be made well in advance of that, for many reasons including:

(1) The nice hotels in Milwaukee do fill up on weekends!

(2) There are no hotels within walking distance of campus, so, it's more convenient for ride-share etc if most participants of the conference stay at 1-2 hotels.

(3) The rooms are "run of house" so you may request whatever you like (1 king, 2 queens, etc), which they will fulfill pending availability. Most rooms are 2 doubles so if you want a King, book early. (Milwaukee is a fun place to visit! We encourage faculty to come and bring partners to explore the town!)

(4) If you want to arrive before Fri or stay past Sun, you should also book early to have access to a room pre or post the block.

Finally - We will be assigning students to this hotel, and possibly to a nearby hotel we have in reserve in case this fills and we have students remaining who need rooms. If a faculty member is driving students from their institution and wants their students assigned to the Marc, please mention this in your registration survey in the final "additional comments " section and we will do our best to accommodate the request.

Book the Marc as part of our discounted block here