UW-Madison Department of Integrative Biology

What UW-Madison Department of Integrative Biology does

The UW-Madison Department of Integrative Biology, reorganized effective July 1, 2026 into the unified Department of Biology within the College of Letters and Science, is a public university academic unit at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The reorganization merged the legacy Department of Botany and the Department of Integrative Biology (formerly zoology) — both dating to the earliest years of the university — into a single department comprising 11 academic programs, three living and preserved natural history collections, and the newly established Center for Botany research hub. The department serves approximately 2,000+ enrolled students through undergraduate majors, honors curriculums, certificates, and graduate Master's and PhD programs in biological sciences.

The department's core offerings center on education and research in biological sciences — studying flora, fauna, fungi, and ecosystems through field and laboratory work. Supporting technical infrastructure includes the Newcomb Imaging Center (microscopy/imaging services), the Botany Greenhouse (home to specimens including an approximately 30-year-old Agave victoriae-reginae), the Allen Centennial Garden (public educational facility offering 45–60 minute guided tours), and three natural history collections. Distribution of academic programs occurs through the standard UW-Madison undergraduate admissions process and the UW-Madison Graduate School application process, both domestic channels. Outreach is conducted via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, academic program pages, news/PR coverage, and university events.

As a state-funded academic department, the entity does not operate a commercial revenue model. Pricing for academic programs is governed by University of Wisconsin-Madison tuition structures rather than published commercial pricing, and no enterprise customer contracts are disclosed. The unit is wholly owned and operated by the State of Wisconsin through the Universities of Wisconsin (formerly the University of Wisconsin System), with no venture capital, private equity, or private ownership involvement. Funding inflows — not disclosed in detail — derive from state appropriations, tuition, research grants, and donations rather than product sales. The department does not disclose revenue, headcount growth, or commercialization metrics typical of investable private companies.

Name

UW-Madison Department of Integrative Biology

Legal name

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Website

https://integrativebiology.wisc.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2026

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The UW-Madison Department of Integrative Biology, reorganized July 2026 as the Department of Biology, is a public university academic unit delivering 11 undergraduate and graduate biology programs to 2,000+ enrolled students, supported by three natural history collections.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education - Biological Sciences

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology) (541715), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAHAGAI

Biomedical Sciences & Medical Research Institutes (University-Based)

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Medical & Health Sciences Universities

SECONDARYEDAHAAAJ

Public Research Universities with National Laboratories/Big Science Facilities

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Public Research Universities

SECONDARYEDAMABAB

Science Camps & Field Programs (Nature, Space, Marine, Geology)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/STEM Enrichment & Science Programs

Keywords

• Biological sciences education
• Undergraduate biology programs
• Graduate biology research
• Natural history collections
• Botanical sciences research

Headquarters

HQ city

Madison

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Department of Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is an academic department offering undergraduate majors, honors curriculums, certificates, and graduate programs (Master's and PhD) in biological sciences. It conducts field and laboratory research studying flora, fauna, and fungi, and maintains three living and preserved natural history collections plus dedicated facilities such as the Center for Botany, Newcomb Imaging Center, Botany Greenhouse, and Allen Centennial Garden. The department was formed on July 1, 2026, by merging the former Department of Botany and Department of Integrative Biology (formerly zoology).

Product overview

The Department of Biology at UW–Madison is an academic institution offering a unified portfolio of educational and research services. Following the July 2026 merger of botany and integrative biology, it now encompasses 11 undergraduate and graduate academic programs, three living and preserved natural history collections, the Center for Botany research hub, and supporting facilities including the Newcomb Imaging Center, Botany Greenhouse, and Allen Centennial Garden. The department serves approximately 2000+ enrolled students through undergraduate majors, honors programs, certificates, and graduate degrees (Master's and PhD).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Academic Programs (Undergraduate and Graduate)

Quantifiable outcome

• >87% of undergraduate major alumni say UW-Madison prepared them for their career

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• UC Berkeley Department of Integrative Biology: The Department of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley is the closest naming and structural analogue: a unified life-sciences department combining botany, zoology, and integrative biology within a top public R1 university. Both UW-Madison and Berkeley run research, teaching, and natural-history-style collections at scale and compete for the same faculty and graduate-student talent.
• University of Texas at Austin Department of Integrative Biology: UT Austin's Department of Integrative Biology is a direct naming and structural peer, combining research and teaching across botany, zoology, and integrative biology at a large public R1 university. It competes with UW-Madison for the same faculty and graduate students in the U.S. public-R1 segment.
• University of Michigan Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Michigan's EEB department is a major biology unit within a top public R1 university that integrates research, teaching, and natural-history collections. It is highly comparable to UW-Madison in scale, program structure, and public-mandate scope.
• Harvard Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology: Harvard OEB is a unified organismal-biology research and graduate-training department within a leading research university, with strong natural-history collections and field research programs. It represents the high-end private-university benchmark for what a consolidated biology department can achieve.
• University of Chicago Department of Ecology and Evolution: The Department of Ecology and Evolution at UChicago is a comparable research-and-teaching unit focused on biological sciences within a leading private R1 university. It is a benchmark for faculty quality and graduate-program structure rather than for public-mandate scope.
• Yale Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Yale EEB is a comparable life-sciences department with strong research, graduate, and natural-history museum assets (Peabody Museum). It mirrors UW-Madison's combination of biology research, collections, and educational outreach within a leading research university setting.
• Cornell Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology: Cornell's EEB department is a leading life-sciences unit within a public R1 university with similar scope in botany, zoology, and evolutionary biology research and graduate training. It serves as a direct benchmark for program structure, faculty recruitment, and research output for UW-Madison's new unified department.
• Stanford Department of Biology: Stanford's Department of Biology spans plant, animal, and molecular biology research and graduate training within a leading research university. It is comparable on program breadth and research depth, although operating within a private rather than public institutional context.

Emerging players

• Oregon State University Department of Botany and Plant Pathology: Oregon State's Department of Botany and Plant Pathology is a peer unit in plant sciences and collections-based research within a large public R1. It is most relevant as a partial-overlap comparison for UW-Madison's Center for Botany and botany programming.

Others

• Allen Centennial Garden (UW-Madison): Allen Centennial Garden is the public garden operated under the UW-Madison Department of Biology that offers educational tours and workshops. It is included as an adjacent, ecosystem-level peer that demonstrates how the department monetizes educational programming through community-facing assets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/uwmadisonbiology
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uwibio
• Instagraminstagram.com/uwmadisonbiology

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about UW-Madison Department of Integrative Biology