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
Friday, January 30, 2026
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10:00 - 10:50 am2311 Newmark Lab - Yeh CenterIn this seminar, I will present my recent work on engineering phytase-functionalized polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bio-beads as a novel, recyclable biocatalyst for phosphorus conversion and recovery.
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10:00 - 10:50 am1310 DCL - 1304 W Springfield Ave, Urbana IL 61801 -
12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL -
12:00 pm108 Coble Hall (801 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820) -
1:00 - 2:00 pm2013 Electrical and Computer Engineering Building
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3:00 - 5:00 pmGregory Hall 223Ladelle McWhorter, a professor of philosophy at the University of Richmond, delivers a lecture on The Person Trap: A Genealogically Informed Critique of a Key Moral Concept
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3:00 pm 01/30/2026Room 2049 Natural History Building & via Zoom -
3:00 - 5:00 pm
In her book Unbecoming Persons: The Rise and Demise of the Modern Moral Self, philosopher Ladelle McWhorter (U. of Richmond) describes the agony of trying and failing to be a good person. In a globalized capitalist economy, personhood makes unfulfillable demands.
Monday, February 2, 2026
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11:00 am3401 Siebel Center
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1:00 pmRhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236
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4:00 pm100 Materials Science and Engineering Building, 1304 W. Green Street
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
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12:00 pm612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Howard Gritton, PhD Department of Comparative Biosciences; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign “Cortical oscillations and neural timing: how attention enhances hearing in complex environments”
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12:00 - 1:30 pmSessions will take place from Noon-1:30 pm CST each day: Feb. 3, 2026 - Part 1 Manufacturing QA/QC Feb. 4, 2026 - Part 2 Subgrade Prep & Compaction Inspection Feb. 10, 2026 - Part 3 Factory QA & QC Feb. 11, 2026 - Part 4 Field QA/QC Feb. 17, 2026 - Part 5 Post Installation Maintenance & Leak Location Feb. 18 - 28, 2026 Online Certification Exam Available
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4:00 pm 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory -
4:00 - 4:50 pm4025 Campus Instructional FacilityLectures 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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5:30 - 6:30 pmhttps://aacc.illinois.edu/
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
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12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium B102 CLSL
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12:00 pm612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
"Confocal Imaging Simplified: Faster Acquisition, Easier Operation, More Results - an Introduction to Nikon Spinning Disk Confocal" Luke Summey Bioscience Sales Specialist - Nikon Instruments Inc.
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12:00 - 1:30 pm
Part 2 of the 5-Part CQA Series will focus on subgrade preparation for flexible geomembranes. This course will describe the requirements for subgrade preparation before a flexible geomembrane is deployed, such as maximum rock size allowed, presence of water, degree of compaction, moisture content, compactive effort, and smooth rolling the surface before geomembrane install
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12:00 - 1:00 pmW109 - Turner Hall -
4:00 pm
Memes, Monsters, and the Digital Grotesque, this talk theorizes memes through the politics of monstrosity and the grotesque, showing how digital infrastructures privilege rapid, affective forms of expression that operate as a language of the unspeakable.
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4:00 - 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium- CLSL B102 -
4:00Main Library 220 or Online
In "THE LIFECYCLE OF WRITING SUBJECTS: On Generative AI and the Future of Writing," Lauren M.E. Goodlad (Distinguished Professor at Rutgers) introduces generative AI in light of its concentrated political economy, long history of anthropomorphized machine “intelligence,”
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4:00 - 5:00 pmLoomis Lab 141
Thursday, February 5, 2026
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11:00 amCharles Miller Auditorium, B102, CLSL
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Molecular & Integrative Physiology
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12:00 - 1:00 pmCurious to explore the relationship between people, places, institutions? Join us for a gentle introduction to network analysis! This workshop will introduce key concepts, explore common tools used to create networks, and consider examples in research across the humanities.
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2:00 - 3:00 pmICT, 1611 Titan Drive, Rantoul, IL 61866
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4:00 pm 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory
Friday, February 6, 2026
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10:00 - 10:50 amRoom 1310 Digital Computer Laboratory 1304 W Springfield Ave, Urbana IL 61801
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12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL
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12:00 - 1:00 pmNCSA 1040
Speaker: Dr. Jack Birkin
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12:15 - 1:15 pmNathan M. Newmark Civil Engineering LaboratoryRailroads, researchers, government laboratories, and industry leaders are using sensors, field deployments, algorithms, and signal processing to assist and prioritize decisions associated with operations. Railroad field inspections and data collection in real-time can assist to save costs, increase safety, and to inform decision prioritization. A new framework of decisions
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1:00 - 6:40 pmLevis Faculty Center, Room 210 and 208 -
1:30 - 3:00 pmLucy Ellis Lounge, Literatures, Cultures, & Linguistics Building, 707 S. Matthews Ave., Urbana -
2:00 pmGregory Hall 223
Please join us for an event in the Timbuktu Talks series with Aly Drame, a professor of history at Dominican University. His lecture will call attention to the need to better reframe the rise and development of Islam in the wider Senegambia, considering the role played by the Mandinka Muslim settlements in the Middle Casamance in this process through intermarriage...
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2:00 pmDepartment of History
Ismael M. Montana (Northern Illinois University) will give a lecture titled "Ahmad b. al-Qāḍī al-Timbuktāwī: Pilgrimage, Intellectual Exchange, and Condemnation of the Enslaved Religion of the Blacks of Tunis.
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7:00 pmSpurlock Museum of World CulturesThe Flatlands Dance Film Festival supports and showcases Dance Cinema, merging filmmaking and dance. This year's selected films thoughtfully challenge monolithic viewpoints and honor the richness of diverse identities and cultures, shedding light on the complexity often overlooked by society.
Monday, February 9, 2026
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12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium B102 CLSL
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4:00 - 5:00 pmLLS Building (1207 W. Oregon St.), Room 133
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4:00 pm116 Roger Adams Lab
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
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12:00 - 1:30 pm
Part 3 of the 5-Part CQA Series will provide in depth information on factory fabrication quality control. We will follow the process of quality assurance beginning with receiving the raw materials through the panel conversion process and finally shipment to the customer. Details of raw material inspection, fabrication machine setup and qualifications, in-process ASTM testi
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3:00 pm1005 Forbes Natural History Building, 1816 S Oak Street, Champaign -
4:00 pm 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory -
4:00 - 4:50 pm4025 Campus Instructional FacilityLectures and discussions on current work in research and development in nuclear engineering and related fields by staff, advanced students, and visiting speakers.
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
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11:00 amRhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236
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12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium B102 CLSL
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12:00 - 1:00 pmW109 - Turner Hall -
12:00 - 1:30 pm
Part 4 of the 5-Part CQA Series will summarize third-party geosynthetic materials and installation inspection practices that ensure quality installation and workmanship that meet and/or exceed project permitting requirements, and final acceptance in accordance with the plans and specifications. The process that will be presented ensures that clients receive a defendable as
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4:00 - 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium- CLSL B102 -
4:00 - 5:00 pmLoomis Lab 141
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5:00 - 8:00 pmColwell Playhouse at Krannert Center for Performing ArtsJoin us for a screening of Kahlil Joseph's feature debut—a mix of archival footage, narrative, and Black intellectual thought spanning voices like W. E. B. Du Bois, Saidiya Hartman, Fred Moten, and artistic luminaries like Arthur Jafa and Garrett Bradley.
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5:30 - 7:30 pmSpurlock Museum Auditorium
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5:30 - 7:30 pmSpurlock Museum Auditorium
Attend a screening of the newly-released documentary film, Against the Current at Spurlock Museum on Wednesday, February 11, 2026 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. In the film Kyla, a high school senior and community organizer in Chicago, journeys across the state of Illinois in search of ways that Black people have resisted oppression across time.
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5:30 - 7:30 pmCampus Instructional Facility, Room 2035
A lecture in the Forum on Human Flourishing in a Digital Age series featuring Brett Robinson(University of Notre Dame). Drawing on thinkers such as Wendell Berry, Paul Kingsnorth, and James Carey—as well as emerging experiments in digital fasting and community-building.
Thursday, February 12, 2026
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11:00 amRhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236
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11:00 amCharles Miller Auditorium, B102, CLSL
Associate Professor, Dept. of Molecular & Integrative Physiology
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12:00 - 1:00 pm2312 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory
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12:00 - 1:00 pmMax L. Rowe Auditorium, College of Law, 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Champaign, IL 61820
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2:00 - 3:00 pmICT, 1611 Titan Drive, Rantoul, IL 61866
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4:00 pm 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory -
4:00 pmLCLB Lucy Ellis Lounge (1080)
Friday, February 13, 2026
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12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL -
12:00 pmUniversity YMCA, Latzer Hall
Join the WRC on Friday, February 13 at 12 noon at the University YMCA for the annual Verdell Frazier Young Symposium Distinguished Speaker event in conjunction with the Friday Forum/Conversation Cafe series, featuring reproductive justice activist, abortion storyteller, and writer, Renee Bracey Sherman. For more information: go.illinois.edu/reneebraceysherman
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12:00 pmLucy Ellis Lounge, Room 1080 Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics Building (707 S. Mathews St., Urbana, IL 61801) -
1:00 - 2:00 pm190 Engineering Sciences Building, 1101 W Springfield Ave, Urbana, IL 61801Speaker: Sam Garratt, Associate Research Scholar, Princeton University
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1:00 - 5:00 pmLevis Faculty Center, Room 210, 919 W. Illinois St
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3:00 - 5:00 pmGregory Hall 223
Join us for a lecture by Sandford Goldberg, the Chester D. Tripp professor in the Humanities in the Department of Philosophy at Northwestern University.
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3:00 - 5:00 pm223 Gregory Hall
Northwestern University philosopher Sandford Goldberg explores how we might modify or expand Stalnaker’s Common Ground framework to capture the normative dimension of inquiry and conversation. Goldberg suggests that we should make room for normative expectations both within common ground and about common ground, with far-reaching implications for epistemology.
Sunday, February 15, 2026
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3:00 - 4:00 pmChapel of St. John the Divine, 1011 S. Wright Street, Champaign, IL
Join in the fun as Urbana's newest period instrument ensemble, directed by internationally renowned harpsichordist Charlotte Mattax Moersch explores the musical puzzles in Bach's great masterpiece, The Musical Offering, along other gems of the Baroque.
Monday, February 16, 2026
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1:00 pmRhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
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12:00 - 1:30 pm
Part 5 of the 5-Part CQA Series will focus on activities that owners and operators should perform to maintain their liner system after installation. Best practices for locating the leakage source, determining an appropriate action leakage rate, and conducting electrical leak surveys also will be discussed.
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12:00 - 1:00 pm3269 Beckman Institute
Cutler Phillippe will present on Analysis of Parachute Microstructural Strains in 3D with Micro-Computed Tomography and Image Segmentation
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1:00 - 2:00 pmSkeuomorph Press & BookLab
Wagner's talk, “'As Usual You Have Produced Yet Another Installment Worthy of Archiving': The Persistence of Obsolescence in Queer Information & Media Technologies," uses archival object case studies to call attention to how data exists within the objects of queer history...
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4:00 pm 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory -
4:00 - 4:50 pm4025 Campus Instructional FacilityLectures 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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4:00 pm100 Material Science Engineering Building
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
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11:00 amRhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236
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12:00 - 12:50 pmEveritt 2310 -
12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium B102 CLSL
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12:00 pm612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
“Single-Molecule Spatial Organization and Dynamics of Nuclear Speckle Components Revealed by MINFLUX Nanoscopy” Minxue Liu, PhD Candidate – Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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4:00 - 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium- CLSL B102 -
4:00 - 5:00 pmLoomis Lab 141
Thursday, February 19, 2026
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12:00 - 1:00 pmCarl L. Vacketta Classroom (Room D), College of Law, 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Champaign IL 61820
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2:00 - 3:00 pmICT, 1611 Titan Drive, Rantoul, IL 61866
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4:00 pm 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory -
4:30 pmTBDA reading by Callie Siskel made possible by the Robert J. and Katherin Carr visiting author series. Callie Siskel is the author of Two Minds, forthcoming from W. W. Norton, and Arctic Revival, selected by Elizabeth Alexander for a Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship. Her poetry appears in The Paris Review, The Atlantic, and the New York Review of Books. A
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5:00 - 6:00 pmRoom 215 (Faculty Lounge), College of Law, 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue Champaign, IL 61820
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5:15 pmPlym Auditorium, Temple Buell Hall
On February 19, Carlos Alberto Torres, Distinguished Professor at UCLA and former director of UCLA's Latin American Center, will give a lecture celebrating the extraordinary humanitarian career of Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The lecture will take place at 5:15 PM at the Plym Auditorium in Temple Buell Hall with reception to follow.
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5:15 - 6:45 pmPlym Auditorium, Temple Hoyne Buell Hall
On February 19, Carlos Alberto Torres, Distinguished Professor at UCLA and former director of UCLA's Latin American Center, will give a lecture celebrating the extraordinary humanitarian career of Paulo Freire, author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, in which he analyzed the analogous relationship of colonizer and colonized to that of teacher and student.
Friday, February 20, 2026
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12:00 - 1:00 pmNCSA 1040
Speaker: Delaney Dunne
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12:15 - 1:15 pmNathan M. Newmark Civil Engineering LaboratoryRailway vehicles and tracks are complex, sophisticated, and highly nonlinear systems. There is one, singular location where these dynamic systems meet & interact: the wheel-rail interface. The contact pressures and subsurface stresses generated in wheel-rail contact far exceed those seen in many engineering applications, as does the range of environmental conditions
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1:30 - 3:00 pm306 Coble Hall, 801 S. Wright St., Champaign -
3:00 - 5:00 pmGregory Hall 223
Join us for a lecture by Heather Demarest, an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Boulder.
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3:00 - 5:00 pm223 Gregory Hall
While the second law of thermodynamics states that entropy increases over time, in some systems entropy decreases in parts of the system while increasing in others. A zebra resists or exploits the second law by shunting extra entropy into its environment. Philosopher Heather Demarest (University of Colorado, Boulder)
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NRES SEMINAR | Dr. Christa Peters-Lidard | Data-driven hydrology: From assimilation to digital twins
3:00 pmW-109 Turner Hall
Monday, February 23, 2026
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12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium
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12:30 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium
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1:00 pmRhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236
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5:00 pmIllini Union Room 210
Around the turn of the twentieth century, a group of Yiddish-speaking educators, authors, and cultural leaders undertook a bold project: creating a corpus of nearly one thousand books and several periodicals, which flourished in conjunction with the secular Yiddish school systems that spanned the globe in the 1920s and 30s.
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
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11:00 - 11:50 am190 Engineering Sciences Building, 1101 W Springfield Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Speaker: Qian Xu
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12:00 pm612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Angad Mehta, PhD Department of Chemistry; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign "Synthetic biology for evolutionary studies and human health"
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4:00 pm 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory -
4:00 - 4:50 pm4025 Campus Instructional FacilityLectures and discussions on current work in research and development in nuclear engineering and related fields by staff, advanced students, and visiting speakers.
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
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11:00 amRhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236
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12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium
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12:00 pm612 Conference Center Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
“Effect of PGC1α expression on mitochondrial biogenesis and pathogenesis in Fragile X syndrome” Vipendra Kumar Visiting Research Scientist, Prof. Nien-Pei Tsai’s lab Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Illinois
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12:00 - 1:00 pmW109 - Turner Hall -
4:00 - 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium- CLSL B102
Thursday, February 26, 2026
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11:00 amCharles Miller Auditorium, B102, CLSL
Associate Professor, Dept. of Molecular & Integrative Physiology
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1:00 - 2:00 pm190 Engineering Sciences Building, 1101 W Springfield Ave, Urbana, IL 61801Speaker: Ethan Lake
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3:00 - 5:00 pmMain Library Room 346 — 1408 W. Gregory Dr, Urbana, IL 61801Dr. Elias Petrou will explore the evolution and transmission of the Greek book from East to West, beginning with an overview of the Byzantine educational system, the preservation and transmission of classical Greek knowledge through manuscripts, and how this inherited book culture was transformed through the new technology of print.
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4:00 pmLevis Faculty Center, Room 422Erin Brock Carlson’s research centers the relationships between place, technology, and power, focusing on how communities work together to address complex public problems through communication and community organizing. She uses community-based and participatory approaches in her research.
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4:00 pm 5:00 pmCharles Miller Auditorium, B102 Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory -
4:00 pm306 Coble Hall (801 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820)
Friday, February 27, 2026
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11:00 amRhondale Tso Seminar Room, Loomis 236
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12:00 pmCharles G. Miller Auditorium, B102 CLSL -
1:30 - 3:00 pmHybrid: 306 Coble Hall & ZOOM
