
A campus-community crossroads
From a dinosaur-era garden to motion-sensing walls, hands-on exhibits, two restaurants and teaching laboratories—the Town Center welcomes campus and the community. Visitors can take a tour, hold an event, participate in a program or have a casual or formal meeting. An array of programs speaks to many audiences, spotlighting business acceleration, interdisciplinary collaboration and opportunities to experience the campus’s cutting-edge scientific research firsthand. Regular and special event programs connect science, humanities and the arts for young and old alike year-round. Learn about our impact as a crossroads of minds.
Programs for Campus & Community Members
The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, known as the Discovery Building, is home to many programs that highlight science and creativity for campus and community members.
Programs for Inventors, Entrepreneurs and Researchers
Programs for Campus and Community Members
Programs for K-12 students, Educators and Families

Meeting & Event Spaces
The Town Center at the award-winning, sustainably designed Discovery Building on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus offers inspiring spaces for use by campus and community groups. The spaces accommodate lectures, expositions, receptions and banquets.
- State-of-the-art audiovisual services including projection, sound, live streaming and multimedia capabilities
- Onsite dining options and catering
- Onsite event staff support
- Free WiFi
- Water features, plants and trees that create a natural ambience
- Flexible, functional spaces with customizable setup options
Field Trips
We offer several field trip workshops for students in elementary, middle and high school. All groups interested in a field trip must fill out an online registration form. The workshops we offer are described on our early elementary school (K-2), late elementary school (3-5), middle school (6-8) and high school (9-12) program pages.

Group Tours
Town Center group tours are designed for groups of 10 or more and a three-week advance notice is appreciated. Tours take place on the first floor of the Discovery Building (Town Center) and include a general overview of the unique physical features of the building, the Discovery partnership, research within the institutes and information about ongoing programs. Tours are limited to the first floor; we are unable to provide tours of the lab and research environments. Tours are approximately 30-45 minutes long.
The following group tour application is designed to gather information about your tour needs. Submission does not guarantee a tour date; tours are confirmed based on the availability of our tour guides. Questions about Town Center group tours should be directed to Debbie Edge at dedge@warf.org or 608.316.4484.
Group tours are supported by UW–Madison Campus and Visitor Relations and WARF.
Contact Us
The Town Center welcomes
your comments and inquiries.
Welcome Desk and General Information: 608.316.4300 info@discovery.wisc.edu