Illinois Events

Taking place Tuesday, October 20, 2026, during the World Business Chicago Venture Summit, the Grainger Engineering Tech Startup Challenge gives selected teams the chance to pitch to investors and win prizes!

Experience technology innovation first-hand. At the Silicon Valley Entrepreneurship Workshop (SVEW), you'll interact with corporate leaders, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurial alumni in various stages of a startup life cycle that share lessons learned about entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership. Apply by October 1!

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

Dr. Krista Habing (B. S. 2020) will discuss her doctoral work on aging, skeletal muscle regeneration, and tissue engineering.

Our first talk will be on Tuesday, September 8, 12-1 PM Central with Dr. Krista Habing. Dr. Habing earned her B.S. in Bioengineering at Illinois in 2020 and her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Oregon Health and Science University in 2025, and is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Naba Lab at the University of Illinois Chicago. She will discuss her doct

This hands-on workshop covers what makes digital math accessible for all learners, including major accessible math formats, accessible math tools, structuring workflows to deliver accessible math, and how digital math interacts with platforms like Canvas, Jupyter Notebook, MS Office documents, and webpages. See full description for free software requirements.

Robert Wedgeworth, former American Library Association (ALA) executive director, will present "The Future of the iSchool."

Get up to speed quickly on making your PowerPoint presentations accessible for everyone while meeting state and federal accessibility standards. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll begin with a brief overview of common accessibility challenges in PowerPoint and then dive straight into practical solutions.

Join us for a lively and timely talk with award-winning author and Illinois’ alumna Devi Laskar on her new novel Midnight, At the War. Set in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, an event which had a profound impact on U.S. engagement and policy in the Middle East and South Asia, Laskar’s novel is informed by her own experiences as a journalist in the 1990s and early aughts.

Join us on the back patio to gather with the humanities community at Illinois.

Welcoming Voices: Rights, Resources & Resilience September 9 | 5:30pm | Cityview Events and Meeting Center, Illinois Terminal, 4th floor, 45 East University Avenue, Champaign, IL 61820

The International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 aims to raise awareness of the role of women in agrifood systems and the challenges they face. This presentation will discuss advances in understanding the empowerment of women farmers and addressing their needs. Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Research Fellow Emeritus at the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Join the editors of "Quinceañeras: Latinidades and Girlhood in Popular Culture"(external link) for a conversation celebrating the release of their edited collection.

Music Director: Julie Gunn Singers: Nathan Gunn, Ben Jones, Adrienne Danrich, Catheryn Kuhar Narrator: Lisa Gaye Dixon

Preparing an elevator pitch regarding your research is crucial for networking, being on the market, and finding a job. Please join us for this exciting cosponsored event by CSGGE and GWS to hear your colleagues who are minoring in GRID, GWS, or Queer Studies about their groundbreaking research.

Music Director: Julie Gunn Singers: Nathan Gunn, Ben Jones, Adrienne Danrich, Catheryn Kuhar Narrator: Lisa Gaye Dixon

Conversation Café September 12 | 11am - 12pm | The Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green St, Urbana, IL 61801

Sabrina Agarwal, PhD Department of Anthropology; University of California, Berkeley "What Remains: Postcolonial Legacies of the Anatomical and Anthropological Sciences"

International Family Game Night September 15 | 4:30pm - 6:30pm | First Presbyterian Church, 302 W. Church St, Champaign

“Sample Preparation Techniques for Optical Microscope” Dr. Kingsley Boateng Assistant Director of Bioscience Research Microscopy Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Get up to speed quickly on the basics of making PDF documents accessible for all while meeting state and federal accessibility standards. For hands-on participation, you will need Adobe Acrobat Pro (not Acrobat Reader). U of I, UIS, and UIC faculty and staff can obtain Acrobat Pro free from the U of I Webstore: https://webstore.illinois.edu/shop/product.aspx?zpid=7227

Most teachers get evaluated by their students at the end of the course. But by then, it is too late to make changes that will make a difference for your current students. Come to this workshop to learn how to design, implement, and interpret Informal Early Feedback (IEF) to improve the class experience for everyone.

CSAMES will host a discussion on the unprecedented disaster brought about by flash floods in the Nepal valley in August 2026. Professor Rabin Bhattarai (rbhatta2@illinois.edu) will lead the discussion. CSAMES is working with Prof. Bhattarai to assemble a resource page with information as they become available.

Join us for a timely dialogue with Venerable Pomnyun Sunim on the critical challenges facing today’s universities and communities.

The Mosaic: A Welcoming Week Concert September 18 | 6pm - 8pm | Neil Street Plaza (Downtown Champaign Plaza), Neil St & Washington St, Champaign

Ian Hobson, music director and conductor

Join the Physics Department for this fall's Saturday Physics for Everyone on Saturday, the 19th. This in-person lecture series starts with Eric Shaffer. Breakfast will be served at 9:45am and the lecture begins at 10:15am.

Cullen Buie, PhD Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Biological Engineering; Massachusetts Institute of Technology “High Throughput Gene Delivery Technologies for Applied Microbiology and Engineered Cell Therapies”

Get up to speed quickly on the basics of making PDF documents accessible for all while meeting state and federal accessibility standards. For hands-on participation, you will need Adobe Acrobat Pro (not Acrobat Reader). U of I, UIS, and UIC faculty and staff can obtain Acrobat Pro free from the U of I Webstore: https://webstore.illinois.edu/shop/product.aspx?zpid=7227

Get up to speed quickly on making your Microsoft Word documents accessible for everyone while meeting state and federal accessibility standards. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll start with a brief overview of common accessibility challenges in Word and then jump right into practice.

“Approaches to Live Cell Imaging with Leica Microsystems” Harold Vo, Confocal Sales Specialist, Leica Microsystems Josh Andrew, Account Manager, Thomas Scientific

Learn how to improve the accessibility of your Moodle course by working hands-on with the new FACT Accessibility Checker developed by ATLAS.

Join the Department of Latina/Latino Studies for an open house to celebrate the beginning of the academic year. Refreshments will be served.

Kevin M. Geraldi, conductor Chi-Chen Wu, piano

Friday Forum & Conversation Cafe: BENIVENIDOS: The Works and Murals of Jose Vazquez September 25 | 12pm - 1pm | University YMCA, 1001 S Wright St, Champaign

Readings in theme with “Up Against Erasure,” with: Andrea Giugni + Malina Infante + Nathan Metz, as well as Lisa Low.

The Youth Literature Festival is a free, family-friendly celebration of reading, storytelling, and creativity hosted by the University of Illinois College of Education.