The CSBS Small Grant Program is accepting pre-proposals until Jan. 15 for the spring 2025 cycle. The program aims to bring researchers together to develop innovative projects that advance social and behavioral science while laying the groundwork for future external funding opportunities. Please note that a pre-proposal must be submitted and approved before you can submit a full proposal. 

The Business Excellence Symposium will be held Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, at the I Hotel. Hosted by the Strategic Project Management Office, the Business Excellence Symposium at Illinois brings you insights on how to equip your unit with a road map to operational excellence. The event will feature Robin Kaler as keynote speaker, breakout sessions and exhibitor booths. Space is limited, so RSVP today!

The Gies VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Program needs volunteers to welcome and gather information from eligible taxpayers. Volunteer 3-6 hours a week. Last year, Gies VITA Program filed over 700 tax returns in this wonderful collaboration of students, volunteers, faculty and Salt & Light. Join this week’s Orientation Meetings (online or in-person) to learn more!

In this episode, we unravel the fascinating ways language shapes our world, from the art of navigating cross-cultural conversations to the highs and lows of learning a new tongue. Three bilingual students — Toni Ishola, Kexin Wang and Carlos Hernandez — from diverse walks of life articulate a unifying message — the strongest ally to exponentially increased connection is language.

All campus libraries will be closed from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 7, for an all-employee event. Library digital resources will remain available during this closure and may be accessed through the Library Gateway. Please arrange your study or research schedule accordingly. 

The detection of natural gas odors is a critical situation. Leave the area immediately and call the F&S Service Office (217-333-0340) if you smell natural gas or a natural gas odor is reported to you. Do not use your cell phone while in the affected area. When reporting a natural gas leak or odor, time is vital; call rather than send an email or submit a service request to expedite the response.

As instructors prepare for the spring semester, please note that the Writers Workshop can support your students in many ways. Students can schedule an appointment or drop-in for writing feedback. We provide tailored presentations by request and host workshops each week. Check out our website resources, copy or adapt this syllabus statement and encourage your students to stop by! 

Are you looking to fill part-time positions for spring, summer or fall 2025 semesters? Register for the Illinois Part-Time Job Fair taking place from 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 29, at the Illini Union. The Fall Part-Time Job Fair attracted 2,300 students, making this the perfect opportunity to recruit hardworking and dedicated students looking to gain experience. Registration is FREE, but space is limited!

Our theme is “Opening the Classroom Door: Creating a Culture of Dialogue and Reflection.” As reflective teachers, we should enhance awareness of our teaching from many vantage points. Attend this retreat to hear from colleagues and students about what excellent teaching looks like, sounds like and feels like. Engage in innovative ideas, interactive activities and available grants. Register here.

Attend in person/online and gain insights into privacy principles from many perspectives, leaving equipped to implement human-centered privacy practices. With a keynote from "The Data Diva" Debbie Reynolds, sessions cover human-centric data systems, privacy by design, ethical challenges of data collection, AI's role in privacy and more. Lunch for in-person attendees if registered by Jan. 13. Free.

Join the Writers Workshop next week to kick off the new year the "write" way! For folks planning to catch up on some writing over Winter Break, we'll be offering a mini-retreat during the week of Jan. 13 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon in the Main Library's Orange Room and on Zoom. Please note that you only need to register once to attend any or all of these dates.

Join NCSA for a hands-on PennyLane workshop, led by Xanadu, on Jan. 23, 2025! Xanadu, a Canadian quantum computing leader, is dedicated to building practical, accessible quantum computers. Its platform, PennyLane, empowers researchers in quantum machine learning, chemistry and computing. For more information, click here.

Graduate College Career Development is offering three workshops this week to help graduate students, postdocs, visiting scholars and others on the faculty job search. Tuesday: Faculty Job Search Essentials. Wednesday: Faculty Job Search Interviewing. Thursday: Faculty Job Search Negotiation. See full schedule at https://go.grad.illinois.edu/workshops.

Looking for adults (ages 18-25) who are native speakers of American English and have normal hearing. Participants will listen and respond to speech samples and receive a hearing test during a single one- to 1.5-hour visit. Compensation of $15 per hour will be provided at completion. To learn more, fill out our screener or email anex-lab@illinois.edu.

Do you have occasional slips in memory? If you or anyone you know is 60+ years old, takes prescribed medication for high blood pressure, has mild problems with memory and uses smartphones, then you are eligible for this study that supports medication taking using smartphones. Compensation provided for participation. For more information, please contact us at 217-244-7383 or medmanage@illinois.edu.

The UI System and the I-MMAS Program, in collaboration with the INCMNSZ-Mexico, are committed to enhancing public health outcomes by funding innovative projects that address critical challenges and advancing research that leads to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment strategies. A proposal can have a budget request of no more than $40,000 dollars jointly. For more information, click here.

This study aims to develop and validate new methods to diagnose tinnitus (“ringing in the ears”). Adults without tinnitus, ages 35 to 70, are sought for a two-hour behavioral study and three-hour brain wave recording. Free parking and compensation are provided. If interested, take survey here or email tinnitus@illinois.edu. 

We are examining the effects of complementary protein in a meal on the rate of building muscleproteins. The study requires three days of participation, including two full-day trials with blood and muscle sample collection. You get $250 upon completion, information about your body composition (muscle and fat) and results of your lower body strength testing. Contact Zan for more information!