Research Seminars @ Illinois
Tailored for undergraduate researchers, this calendar is a curated list of research seminars at the University of Illinois. Explore the diverse world of research and expand your knowledge through engaging sessions designed to inspire and enlighten.
To have your events added or removed from this calendar, please contact OUR at ugresearch@illinois.edu
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
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Join Field Museum researchers Bruno de Medeiros, assistant curator of insects, and Elizabeth Postema, postdoctoral research scientist, for a free, hands-on workshop.
Thursday, August 27, 2026
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Centering Clay highlights the American Studio Ceramics movement (1940s–1970s) when individual potters shifted from factories and industrial ceramics production to personal studios where they could freely experiment with materials and develop their own techniques and glazes. A selection of artists includes Katherine Choy, Donald Frith, Marvin Lipofsky, and Jerry Rothman.
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Celebrate opening night of Centering Clay: Connection and Innovation in American Studio Ceramics and meet our new director Stephanie Smith. Enjoy new exhibitions, live music by Ther'Up.Y, and a dance party in the galleries with DJ KamauMau. Parking nearby is free after 5 pm. The museum is free and open to everyone.
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Friday, August 28, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Saturday, August 29, 2026
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Join us for a fun evening learning about bats and then embark on a night hike with ultrasonic bat detecting equipment!
Monday, August 31, 2026
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This two-day symposium brings together researchers, industry leaders, project developers, and policymakers to discuss energy systems, carbon capture and utilization, AI-driven energy demand, carbon markets, and financing pathways for energy-carbon projects. Interested participants may request an invitation on the event page.
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
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IGB Seminar - Faculty Spotlight Lecture "Nutritional Regulation of the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis - Implications for Stress and Cancer Resilience" Brett Loman, PhD Department of Animal Science; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Lectures and discussions on current work in research and development in nuclear engineering and related fields by staff, advanced students, and visiting speakers.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory for our Fall 2026 Welcome Reception at Pizzeria Antica. The Director of the Unit, Dede Ruggles, will announce upcoming MCT speakers, Unit events, and more. All are welcome!
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Thursday, September 3, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Join us for the Ebert Center’s first screening of the season: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), directed by Steven Spielberg and attributed as Stanley Kubrick’s final work. The film will be introduced by Ebert Fellows mentor Isaac Feldberg, critic at rogerebert.com. Food truck and concessions will be available at 6 p.m.
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Attend the Ebert Center's first film of the season—a free screening of "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" (2001), attributed as Stanley Kubrick’s final work. RogerEbert.com film critic and Ebert Fellows mentor Isaac Feldberg will introduce the film, which is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment...
Friday, September 4, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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The Psychology Department is excited to continue the First Friday Psychology-Beckman Colloquium Series for the 2026-2027 academic year, a monthly event designed to bring together members of the Department of Psychology, Beckman Institute, and beyond for engaging, cross-area conversations.
Monday, September 7, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
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IGB Seminar - Director's Office "Biology by Design: From Directed Evolution to Autonomous Experimentation" Huimin Zhao, PhD Steven L. Miller Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Bioengineering; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Lectures and discussions on current work in research and development in nuclear engineering and related fields by staff, advanced students, and visiting speakers.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism and the Mellon Sawyer Seminar for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Chad Wellmon (Germanic Languages & Literatures, University of Virginia) on Theory in the University.
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
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Join us on the back patio to gather with the humanities community at Illinois.
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Join us on the back patio to gather with the humanities community at Illinois.
Thursday, September 10, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Celebrate the launch of “Quinceañeras: Latinidades and Girlhood in Popular Culture” (University of Illinois Press). Edited by Jillian M. Báez (PhD ’09, communications and media, ICR), Diana Leon-Boys (PhD ’20, communications and media, ICR), and Institute of Communications Research Professor Emerita Angharad N. Valdivia (PhD ’91, communications and media, ICR).
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Join the editors of "Quinceañeras: Latinidades and Girlhood in Popular Culture"(external link) for a conversation celebrating the release of their edited collection.
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Prof. Keidrick Roy (Dartmouth College) speaks on the topic of his prize-winning book, American Dark Age: Racial Feudalism and the Rise of Black Liberalism (Princeton, 2024), showing how Black intellectuals challenged ideas of “racial feudalism” inspired by the medieval past...
Friday, September 11, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Monday, September 14, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Our Mr. Matsura, a feature documentary film, is the story of photographer Frank Matsura who journeyed from his native Japan to live in rural Washington State in the early 1900s. The film presents a picture of the “frontier” that departs from the existing popular culture narrative and celebrates the singular contribution of a community-building immigrant artist in America.
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
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Speaker: Jong Yeon Lee
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Lectures and discussions on current work in research and development in nuclear engineering and related fields by staff, advanced students, and visiting speakers.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Danielle Chynoweth (Supervisor, Cunningham Township) on Democracy.
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Thursday, September 17, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Friday, September 18, 2026
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PRESENTER Josephine Wee, PhD Associate Professor of Food Science Department of Food Science The Pennsylvania State University TITLE Of Friends and Foes: Microbial Ecosystems Governing Fermentation, Shelf Life, and Food Safety DATE Sept. 18, 2026 TIME 11 a.m. LOCATION 180 Bevier Hall
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Saturday, September 19, 2026
Monday, September 21, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
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Speaker: Kate Smith, Nothwestern University
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Lectures and discussions on current work in research and development in nuclear engineering and related fields by staff, advanced students, and visiting speakers.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Jonathan Rosa (Education, Stanford) on Semiotics.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Thursday, September 24, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Exhibit Opening — “I could people the hours with creations”: Celebrating Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Please join us for an opening reception to celebrate the acquisition of the first edition of Frankenstein and explore the life and career of Mary Shelley. Exhibit curator Lynne Thomas will give brief remarks, and refreshments will be served.
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Join us for a reading by author Mary Helen Specht! Mary Helen Specht is the author of the forthcoming novel Mudlark (July 2026) and the novel Migratory Animals, a New York Times Editors' Choice and winner of the Texas Institute of Letters Best First Fiction Award and the Writers’ League of Texas Fiction Prize.
Friday, September 25, 2026
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Readings in theme with “Up Against Erasure,” with: Andrea Giugni + Malina Infante + Nathan Metz, as well as Lisa Low.
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Readings in theme with "Up Against Erasure," with: Andrea Giugni + Malina Infante + Nathan Metz; Lisa Low.
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Saturday, September 26, 2026
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Readings in theme with “Up Against Erasure,” with: Steven Bergmark + Mason McVeigh + Diana Towne, as well as Gabriela Garcia.
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Readings in theme with “Up Against Erasure,” with: Steven Bergmark + Mason McVeigh + Diana Towne; Gabriela Garcia.
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Join us at the third annual Central Illinois Bat Festival — a free two-part celebration of bats, bugs, and science! This year, we’re celebrating backyard bugs and bats!
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Celebrate backyard bugs and bats at the free Central Illinois Bat Festival, featuring expert talks, guided hikes, family activities, vendors, food trucks, a costume contest, and an evening bat acoustic walk with a live ecologcation demonstration.
Monday, September 28, 2026
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
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Speaker: Arnab Banerjee
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David Gottlieb Memorial Lecture Ikuro Abe, PhD Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo Professor, Institute of Natural Medicine, University of Toyama "Unusual Enzyme Reactions in Natural Product Biosynthesis"
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Beckman’s Visualization Lab is open for office hours weekdays between 1-3 p.m. in 2203 Beckman, which is located just across the atrium bridge from the elevator.
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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by Lisa Saltzman (History of Art, Bryn Mawr) on Walter Benjamin.
