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, October 7, 2026
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On October 7th at 3PM in Coble Hall Room 306, CLACS and the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies are excited to present Cristina Cielo's talk, "Narratives of Youth, Violence and Drugs. Comparing “Mano Dura” in Ecuador and the Philippines".

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Join the Departments of Latina/Latino Studies and Gender and Women's Studies for the Reproductive Justice Symposium: a space for conversation between leading scholars of reproduction and the campus community. Professors Lina-Maria Murillo (UT Austin) and Jallicia Jolly (Amherst) will discuss their new books followed by a panel discussion and Q&A.

Thursday, October 8, 2026
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CSGGE Lunch Series, "Gender Equity in an Inequitable Era" will host Shaimaa Khanam, Graduate Student in the Department of Communication. Her talk, "Audiences interpretations of gender problems based on Netflix show, Adolescence”, will take place on October 8th at 12pm in person at 306 Coble Hall and virtually. Lunch provided for in-person attendees.

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“Staying with the Trouble of Preservation: The Ambivalent Politics of Deletion in Digital Societies.” Presented by Nanna Bonde Thylstrup (Art and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen).

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Join us for a reading by poet Philip Metres! Philip Metres (he/him) grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, the grandchild of Lebanese refugees and migrants and the descendent of Irish famine survivors. Metres has been called “one of the essential poets of our time,” whose work is “beautiful, powerful, magnetically original.”

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This inaugural event by the Borders of Sanctuary Working Collective presents a public facing panel that pairs Professor Willie Mack (Black Studies, University of Missouri) on Black migration with Devin Lowe from the Black Trans Travel Fund, which serves Black and Transgender migrants.

Friday, October 9, 2026
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health threat. We will need novel alternatives to, or co-therapies for, existing antibiotics. Bacteriophages (“phages”), viruses that infect bacteria, have emerged as a promising candidate.

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PRESENTER Maxine Roman, PhD Lead| Innovation Collaborations & Partnerships (IC&P) Kraft Heinz Company TITLE Disruptive Technologies to broaden networks and source sustainable, upcycled, and agricultural solutions for food development DATE Oct. 9, 2026 TIME 11 a.m. LOCATION 180 Bevier Hall

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This is a panel discussion with artists and scholars on Everett’s "Erasure." Each panelist will provide a different window into what’s beyond Erasure or what reading Erasure inspires (broadly conceived).

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Josue Rodriguez presenting, "Emerging Methods for using Extracellular Vesicles as Cancer Diagnosis Tools". Marita Roshael Roy Anthony George presenting, "Digital Image Colorimetry for Quantitative Urea Determination in Milk: Endpoint, Kinetic, and High-Throughput Strategies"

Saturday, October 10, 2026
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Join Kathryn Koca Polite for a special tour of In Search of a Future. Explore the exhibition through the curator's perspective and gain insight into the themes, selected works, and ideas that shaped the presentation. This guided conversation offers a unique opportunity to engage more deeply with the exhibition and ask questions along the way.

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Join us for a special Latin American story time celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month! The event will take place at the Urbana Free Library's Lewis Auditorium at 2pm on Saturday, October 10th. We'll read a fun story about piñatas, learn about this tradition, and celebrate with a real piñata filled with Latin American treats!

Monday, October 12, 2026
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
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Graduate students interested in community-engaged research (CER) and leadership are invited to join CSGGE and the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute for a panel discussion.

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Please join us for the Women in Science Lecture Series! October 13 from 12 - 1 pm hear Kelli Trei (B.S. Microbiology, 1999, and MLIS, 2012), Associate Professor and Biosciences Librarian, University of Illinois, discuss her background in microbiology and work as liaison to the Schools of Life Sciences and IGB.

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Si Tang (Lehigh University) talks about "On the Fitness Landscape in the NK Model."

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Higher Education Under Attack. Panelists include: Sean McDonald, co-founder of Digital Public, where he focuses on data governance design; Shawn Gilmore, a Teaching Assistant Professor in English and co-author the the recent AAUP report; and Terri Barnes Professor in the History and Gender & Women's Studies Departments.

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Large-scale structure (LSS) studies provide insights on the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and evolution of galaxies, which remain central questions in modern cosmology and astronomy. The CMB probes the LSS in the early Universe, galaxy surveys trace the LSS at later epochs, while ALMA and JWST have revealed the early stages of galaxy formation.

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Please join the Unit for Criticism for a Modern Critical Theory lecture by John Lurz (English, Tufts) on Poststructuralism.

Wednesday, October 14, 2026
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Join us for our weekly FACS Seminars, given by graduate students, staff, and other ACE Affiliates! Take the opportunity for an excellent meeting to learn about ACE topics, and to meet like-minded peers. This week's speaker will be Richie Ma on the topic "Caught in the queue: Exchange latency and market quality."

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“Probing the Link Between Cellular Metabolism, Circadian Rhythms, and Inflammation at the Blood-Brain Interface” Tanner Cress, Ph.D. Candidate Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

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Join Krannert Art Museum and Family Service of Champaign County for a Creative Aging Art Tour and Memory Café, a guided tour of the museum’s collection for seniors, those living with dementia or Alzheimer’s, and care partners, followed by refreshments, artmaking activities, and conversation.

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Join us to celebrate the new books of three history PhD alumni: Latinx Encounters: How Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and Puerto Ricans Made the Modern Midwest by Juan Ignacio Mora (PhD, ’21, history); White, Black, Brown: Becoming Puerto Rican in Chicago by Michael Staudenmaier (PhD, ‘16, history)...

Thursday, October 15, 2026
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CSGGE Lunch talk with Dr. Tingting Zhang, School of Labor and Employment Relations, "Pushed out and Boxed In: Gendered Silence and Exit Orientation in China's Tech Industry". She argues that silence in such environment is not a uniform response to constrained institutional conditions, but it shaped by the gendered social positions workers occupy.

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Professor Ángel García (English/Creative Writing) will read from his latest collection, Indifferent Cities.

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You are warmly invited for the CLACS Ofrenda Opening Reception to celebrate and honor the lives and memories of loved ones who are no longer with us. Refreshments will be provided. Make sure to RSVP as spots are limited: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_P8Lb15PCYaWy1dM6xTKbXk-84mYorZl18Nq9IgTyo2jYkQ/viewform?usp=dialog

Friday, October 16, 2026
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The Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies would like to invite interested students to a discussion & coffee, with Professor Austin Strange in connection to his talk titled, "Is Soft Power a Zero-Sum Competition?" Coffee and treats will be provided.

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Professor Austin Strange is an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong. He will be presenting his paper titled "Is Soft Power a Zero-Sum Competition?" where he dives into the economic relations between the United States and China. Join us in David Kinley Hall Room 404 to learn more about his findings.
















