2026 Facilities Day

The eleventh annual Facilities Day will be hosted by the Wisconsin Centers for Nanoscale Technology and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center on the University of Wisconsin–Madison Campus.

The right techniques for your research

Facilities Day features tutorials for common microscopy and microanalysis techniques available in the UW–Madison shared facilities. These tutorials and introductions are an excellent learning opportunity for everyone, from faculty and graduate students to industrial users.

Facilities Tours

There is an opportunity to tour the Facilities at the end of the day following the event, around 3:45 p.m. If interested, please look for the sign-up upon checking in to the event to attend the tour.

Accessibility

Wisconsin MRSEC strives to host accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. To request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility, please contact Kerri Phillips at kphillips22@wisc.edu or (608) 516-8091.

Who should attend Facilities Day?

Graduate students, faculty and industrial users, across all scientific and engineering disciplines, will increase their knowledge of structural biology measurement techniques, nanofabrication, microscopy and microanalysis analytical methods, and their understanding of how these techniques can be applied most effectively to their research and manufacturing questions.

What you will learn:

• The best techniques and instrumentation for characterization of your materials
• Which techniques are best used to solve common issues, such as:
  • Chemical bonding
  • Elemental composition
  • Grain size, texture and orientation
  • Interfacial properties
  • Mechanical properties
  • Physical dimensions
  • Surface texture/roughness
  • Size distribution
  • Structure
  • Thickness
• The fundamentals of each technique (i. e. how they work)
• How to better understand the data to get the most information from your analysis
• Strengths and limitations of each technique
• How multiple techniques fit together to provide comprehensive solutions to your research and manufacturing problems.
• Methods used to fabricate nanoscale devices and structures

Learn how to apply these techniques to your research and development or manufacturing problems, meet the experts and interface with other users.