Madison Sessions

The summer lab

The Operations and Process Laboratory is a course that has been taught every summer since the 1920's under different number designations and slightly different structure. The current designation, CBE 424, was established after the Department's name changed to Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering in 2003. Alumni surveys consistently rank the summer lab as one of the most useful courses taken during their stay at UW Madison. 

Course structure

The course structure for the Madison sessions requires full time commitment from all participants. The class meets from 7:45 am through 4:30 pm Monday through Friday for lab work. The instructional staff includes instructors from Madison and other universities. The student to instructor ratio is 8 or less. In addition to several structured experiments performed in one or two days, the students are assigned four open ended experiments by different instructors. These experiments must be completed in about one week, and the results must be reported in either a written report or oral presentation. A total of eight reports and one oral presentation are presented by each student. Because of this demanding schedule it is strongly recommended to avoid taking any other class or taking employment during the five weeks of the course. Physical presence of the students in the laboratory is expected everyday during the open lab hours. Additional time must be typically devoted after the lab to analyze data and write reports. 

Session Dates

Madison Session I: Monday, May 19 - Friday, June 20, 2025 (larger session, usually 2/3 of spaces)

Madison Session II: Monday, July 7 - Friday, August 8, 2025

How to enroll

The Department collects session preferences and determines class section assignments for Madison sections during January, so students will have their sessions set well in advance for planning other summer activities. 

In the application survey you may indicate your preference for the first or second session. First session is usually oversubscribed; spaces usually remain in the second session for all late sign-ups. You should indicate on the survey any special circumstances that might prevent you from enrolling in one session or another. The deadline for full priority consideration is typically during the first week of Spring classes. A registration code will be provided once the distribution is completed. 

The online application is now open at this link. 

Deadline for full consideration: Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Official UW summer enrollment for all Madison courses will begin in early April. 
Enrollment release dates are usually distributed by the Registrar by mid-March.