The university’s federal updates FAQ answers frequently asked questions regarding new federal directives. Questions include whether units should update their website, how the university is responding to directives, what the directives mean for research and more. Faculty, staff and students with additional questions are encouraged to email federalupdates@illinois.edu. The website will be updated as more information becomes available.

HRI's Research Prizes celebrate excellence in humanities scholarship with awards given at the undergraduate, graduate and faculty levels. Submissions are invited from scholars in all sectors of the university with focus on humanities and humanities-inflected research. The awards are open to all full-time U. of I. students and faculty (tenure-line and specialized). Applications are due March 7, by 5 p.m. Central Time. 

Five Days for Change is an intensive training program designed to provide university employees with the opportunity to acquire and strengthen cultural competencies, awareness and skills. This training will increase the visibility, skill and effectiveness of allies in the cause of social justice and campus civility as critical campus incidents arise. Applications are being accepted.

Abstracts are being accepted through March 3 and registration is now open for the annual meeting of the International Physics of Living Systems Student Research Network, being held at Illinois from July 28 to Aug. 1. iPOLS is an NSF-funded, trans-institutional and community-based network of graduate students and graduate student educators all working on the physics of living systems. The meeting is co-hosted by the NSF Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology. Learn more about the meeting here.

The NSF Science and Technology Center for Quantitative Cell Biology is accepting applications through March 3 for the Summer School in Quantitative Cell Biology to be held at Illinois from July 21-25. Designed for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and researchers in physics, biophysics, chemical and life sciences, and engineering who seek to expand their research skills in quantitative methods for studying and modelling cells, the workshop will include lectures, mini-courses and hands-on training in experimental and computational techniques. Learn more here.

The Spring Doctoral Student Mixer and Potluck will take place in-person 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, Room 220 (Main Library Building). Partners and families are welcome. We look forward to connecting with you! 

As you prepare for retirement, it's important to know about the university services you will retain and the ones that will be discontinued. Details are available in this KnowledgeBase article. If you have questions or concerns, contact the Help Desk online or in person in DCL room 1211 or the Illini Union room 187. 

SILMW for 2025 will take place from June 16 to Aug. 8, 2025. SILMW offers intensive courses in Arabic, Persian, Swahili, Turkish and Wolof. Students earn between four and 10 credit hours for taking one or two intensive language courses over the period of 4-8 weeks. For more information, please check our website.  

Whether you are a writer in the midst of a project or starting a new effort, enroll in Allerton Park’s Writing Habits: In Three Parts, a three-part online course from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Fridays, Feb. 28, March 7 and March 14.  University of Illinois Writers Workshop assistant director Azlan Smith will lead the sessions. $75 per person for the entire series or $30 per class. Register here by Feb. 24.

Want to help one or two of the 700 students participating in this year's Cozad New Venture Challenge? Guide student teams with your unique skills and expertise this semester! You don't necessarily need entrepreneurship experience - just a willingness to help walk students through ideas and how their concepts might work in real-world applications. Mentors choose the frequency and modality of all interactions with students based on what works for their schedule! Learn more and register:  https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1958533085. 

Let your students know they can drop-in for a writing consultation at the Main Library and online (Sunday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.) or at the LAS Hub in Lincoln Hall (Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.). These 15- to 30-minute sessions are held on a first-come, first-served basis. They can receive actionable advice on shorter documents, ask specific questions or brainstorm their next project!

Join this Quick Start Workshop to learn how to make your documents accessible to everyone. You'll explore key accessibility tips, including how to scan multiple document types for accessibility issues and remediate them. Additional workshops on document and course accessibility, including Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and PDF, are scheduled throughout the spring semester. Sign up and expand your accessibility skills! 

Infographics can be an effective way to convey small bits of information very quickly, while drawing viewers in due to their visual appeal. In this workshop, students will learn about best practices for creating infographics and be introduced to several free online tools that allow users to create their own infographics, including Infogram and Visme. The session will end with a practice activity where participants are encouraged to use the webtool of their choice. 

Looking for a new way to conduct your research? Tired of getting zero results in your database searches? This workshop will break down how to identify resources, and search for articles, books and other scholarly works. We’ll cover chasing citations, creating optimal keyword searches, using built-in database functions to improve your searches and other strategies to make you a more efficient researcher.

In this introductory workshop, we will be learning about basic 3D Printing modeling with TinkerCAD. We will provide a walk-through and activity with this software. After registering, please create a TinkerCAD account. TinkerCAD is a free browser-based software that we will be using in the introductory 3D design workshop. Choose the “Create a personal account” option for this workshop and follow the registration steps. A duplicate of this workshop will be provided on April 8.

Scholarly databases feature common operators and special features that allow you to create more precise search results. The more you use these features and tools, the better your search experience will be. In this class, we talk about these search operators, special characters and limiters and discuss how to learn a new database in a way that is efficient and effective. This workshop will include hands-on time, so bring a computer and search along with us.

Are you overwhelmed by organizing your sources? Zotero is a free, open-source citation manager that helps you store and organize your files and insert formatted citations into papers. You will leave this hands-on workshop with a Zotero library set up and ready to use!

This session will cover conceptual design, storytelling techniques and scriptwriting. Our goal is to set a strong foundation to help researchers understand communication in this popular, innovative format. We will have four subsequent sessions that go into more depth, but this first workshop is paramount to getting started!

Community-engaged faculty across campus are invited to an interactive workshop with Diane Doberneck of Michigan State University to learn about key elements of successful community engagement and how to unpack projects into multiple publishing pieces. The workshop will be followed by a working lunch to discuss strategies for centering equity to develop sustainable, equitable partnerships with community organizations. If you are unable to attend the workshop, you may register to attend the working lunch. Register by Feb. 21.

Come lift a glass in celebration as we share the collective vision of our exciting mission! The Office for Arts Integration is an initiative of Chancellor Robert J. Jones, spearheaded by the special advisor for Arts Integration, Dr. M. Cynthia Oliver, to amplify creative practice across our many domains. Join them and the OAI team and learn about our aim to have ... ART EVERYWHERE. (Click here to RSVP)

Strengthen your intercultural competence through this Stumbling Blocks to Intercultural Communication workshop, which helps identify and overcome common barriers in cross-cultural interactions. This session explores six key causes of intercultural communication breakdowns and provides actionable strategies to avoid them. More details and registration can be found here: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1693959172. Questions? Contact ISSS Training and Programs at isss-programs@illinois.edu.

Come to the Courtyard Café for Friday Funnies, featuring Rami Abushhab with opening act Spicy Clamato Improv. Abushhab is an award-winning actor based in Chicago. He played a supporting role in the film "BJ's Mobile Gift Shop," an official 2021 Sundance Film Festival selection. Rami was also featured as a stand-up comedian on "Laughter Is Good For The Soul," which debuted as the No. 1 comedy album in the U.S. on iTunes. This event is free to students and the public!

Dr. Ussama Makdisi is a professor of history and Chancellor’s Chair at the University of California, Berkeley. He was previously a professor of history and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University in Houston. During AY 2019-2020, Makdisi was a Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the history department. 

PRI’s Insight to Impact data visualization and science communication workshop series equips researchers with advanced tools and strategies for effective science communication at any stage of their careers. The series features experts from across the U. of I., covering topics ranging from mastering media relations to transforming complex science into impactful narratives. Presented by Esther Ngumbi, professor in the departments of Entomology and African American Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Join Krannert Art Museum and Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies in celebrating the museum’s recent acquisition of the painting "Personnage" (1969) by luminary Afro-Cuban artist Wifredo Lam. The celebration will feature a talk on Lam’s work by American art historian and curator Lowery Stokes Sims. She will be joined in conversation by professor Irvin J. Hunt (Departments of African American Studies and English) and professor Felisa Vergara Reynolds (Dept. of French and Italian). Reception to follow, featuring live music by the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective.

Join us at the Illini Union for U. of I.'s second year anime and comic convention hosted by the Japanese Animation Club, Character Creation Hub, Illini Esports and Illini Metagamers as well as other RSOs and community organizations! Browse from over 100 student artists, local artists and vendors. We'll have special guests, 30-plus panels, performances, a maid cafe, cosplay contest, cosplay meetups, karaoke, gaming room, a rave, a concert and much more. $2.50 pre-registration online until Feb. 21. $5 at the door. Children under 5 are free. One registration covers both days.

Are you struggling to keep track of all your sources? Looking for an easier way to cite as you write? Mendeley is a free citation manager that helps you organize your citations, store and annotate your files, and insert formatted citations into papers. You will leave this hands-on workshop with the ability to set up and use your very own Mendeley library!

Join the School of Social Work on March 14-15 in collaboration with CU Trauma and Resilience Initiative for a two-day summit on trauma-informed practices for practitioners, educators, students and community leaders. If you are interested in being a speaker, we invite proposals from professionals, practitioners, researchers and community leaders interested in sharing their expertise and innovative practices related to trauma-informed care and community resilience. Call for Proposals | Registration Form

Join us for an opportunity to explore the rich history and ongoing significance of African Americans in labor movements. RSVP for the in-person event in 106 Main Library, by Friday, Feb. 20 here. This hybrid event will be accessible online via Zoom, register here. Join us for a thought-provoking and enjoyable event featuring Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham and Chris Wiley, where we take some time to think about the vital contributions of African Americans to labor movements and their enduring impact today. For more Black History Month events at the University Library, click here.

Join us for our first hybrid webinar of the year to learn more about the Champaign County African American Heritage Trail with Angela Rivers and Dr. Barbara Suggs-Mason with archivist of Multicultural Collections and Services, Jessica Ballard-Lawrence. RSVP for the in-person event at the Main Library, Media Commons, by Friday, Feb. 14 here. This event will be accessible online via Zoom, register here. For more Black History Month events at the University Library, click here.  

Join Dr. Maxim Krupskiy as he explores global “foreign agents” laws, examining their potential to counter non-democratic interference and their risks to human rights. A human rights attorney and Illinois Scholars at Risk fellow, Dr. Krupskiy has defended civil activists, NGOs and asylum seekers in Russia. His research focuses on foreign influence transparency laws and their impact on democracy worldwide. 

Join us for an interactive Fair Use Gameshow to celebrate Fair Use Week! Your host, Sara Benson (Library) will be joined by an all-star panel including Andrea Augustine (Law), Pia Hunter (Law) and Dr. Melissa Ocepek (iSchool). Register for free at go.illinois.edu/fairuseweek to attend online or attend in-person (Room A, College of Law). Lunch will be available (first-come, first-served).

Please join us for the University Archives' monthly Women in Science Lecture Series, noon to 1 p.m. Feb. 18. Krystiana Krupa, senior program officer, NAGPRA, will discuss her work in documenting Ancestors’ remains and cultural items, researching their relationship to Tribal communities and facilitating repatriation. This is a hybrid event and will take place in the University Archives, Main Library 146, or you can register for the Zoom link.

Join the East Central Illinois Master Naturalists to learn about beneficial insects with Dr. Tommy McElrath from the Illinois Natural History Survey. Learn how they help us and how we can help them. Explore first-hand specimens from the INHS Insect Collection. Registration and more information in title link. 

Gather with your fellow dulcimer players and create some music at a monthly Mountain Dulcimer Jam Session from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22 in The Studio at Allerton Park. Join Lou Ann Koebel, who has taught Dulcimer at The Farms and other locations in a jam session. $5 per person. Register here by Feb. 21.

Book a getaway at Allerton during its Weekend Wind Down on Feb. 21-23. Stay in the Mansion or a guest house at a discounted rate ($110 per night plus tax), relax in the Solarium Bar and consider booking an additional activity, like Talking and Tasting: An Intro to Wines of the World or a Dulcimer Jam Session. View guestrooms and make your reservation here or by calling 217-333-3287.

Mental Health First Aid Certification training courses are being offered on campus throughout the spring semester. To see a complete list of courses and to register, please go to: https://wellness.illinois.edu/mhfa Courses are offered at no cost to attendees, but you must register and complete all portions of the training course to receive certification. Mental Health First Aid training is available on campus through funding provided by the Mental Health Early Action on Campus Act and sponsored by Student Affairs.

Join Sayan Mitra of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as he presents in person at the Spring 2025 Kent Seminar Series from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20. Presentations this semester focus on topics related to autonomy in transportation. Food and soft drinks will be provided beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Illinois Center for Transportation Classroom.

Racial Justice Allies and Advocates is a training designed for students, staff and faculty at the U. of I. seeking to understand race and racism in deeper ways, promote racial justice and dismantle systems of oppression through an interactive and peer-facilitated workshop. For more information and to register for an upcoming training, please visit go.illinois.edu/RJAA. 

Do you know a student considering a career in sustainability? iSEE is partnering with the Student Sustainability Committee to bring in young professionals to talk about their career pathways in sustainability and answer questions from students! The panel will include professionals in the public and private sector — at energy companies, research institutes, forest preserves and more. Click here for a full list of speakers. The event will be split into two sessions (5:30-6:30 p.m. and 6:30-7:30 p.m.) to accommodate students who can't attend the entire time. Food will be provided! Register now >>

The F&S Diversity and Inclusion Committee is hosting guest speaker Daniel Gray-Kontar, the new associate director of Arts and Cultural Programming at the university's Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center in honor of Black History Month. He will speak on the topic "Imagination for an Imagined Nation: Centering young artists as catalysts for liberatory democracy." To join the Zoom meeting at noon Tuesday, Feb. 25, register at https://go.fs.illinois.edu/diversityandinclusion.

You are invited to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) with a fireside chat featuring women change agents linked to this significant history. 

Please join us for presentations by recent CAS Associates at 11 a.m. - John Levi Barnard, "The Edible and the Endangered;" at noon, Lindsay Rose Russell, "Queens, Queers, and Dictionaries."

Join us for the 23rd Annual Women’s and Gender History Symposium: Gender and the Law, featuring graduate research and keynote speakers Dr. Neil J. Young (historian, writer, and podcaster) and Dr. Laura Goffman (professor of history, U. of I.). This will be a hybrid event. Learn more and register here: https://wghistory.web.illinois.edu/. 

You’ve got your qualitative data; now what? How do you turn that wealth of data into an answer to your research questions? In this hands-on workshop, we’ll discuss strategies you may use to analyze your data and explore the tools you can use to put your analysis plan into action. Strategies discussed include: coding and viewing coded data, quantifying qualitative data, comparing data across categories and using writing and mapping to develop your interpretation.

Are you curious about what kind of sources and perspectives are out there beyond journal articles? This hands-on workshop will help you locate, use and cite multimedia for your research. Some of the multimedia we go over includes images, podcasts and videos. You’re welcome (and encouraged) to bring a project you are currently working on!

Join CI Pathways (NSF award 2417789) to elevate your research with cutting-edge cyberinfrastructure tools! This cohort-based training program offers a guided approach to using CI with expert mentorship and peer learning. Led by NCSA and PSC, CI Pathways provides world-class learning experiences in four 10-week pathways: CI Awareness, Machine Learning and AI, Data Science and Parallel Computing. Each pathway includes four hands-on virtual sessions with assignments. Build lasting relationships and enhance your research with CI Pathways! Visit the CI Pathways webpage for more information. 

The Center for Informatics Research in Science and Scholarship will host a talk by Diyi Yang, professor in the computer science department at Stanford University, on “Enabling and Evaluating Human-AI Interaction” as part of its Generative AI and the Future of Research speaker series. Details available here.

Illinois faculty, staff and student researchers are invited to a Zoom presentation by Akron Children's Hospital senior biostatistician Sima Sharghi for insights into how they can embed justice, equity, diversity and inclusivity throughout their work, from inception of their studies to the dissemination of their findings, and how they can contribute to more equitable healthcare outcomes.

Join us on Zoom for an amazing talk entitled "Global Governance of AI: Political and Ethical Challenges Across National, Regional, and International Approaches" - This talk will be at noon Feb. 18, and it will be presented by Allison Stanger, a Distinguished Endowed Professor at Middlebury College; Thallita G. L. Lima, the research coordinator of the "O Panóptico" project at the Center for Security and Citizenship Studies in Brazil; and Chinasa T. Okolo, a fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation at The Brookings Institution.

Lowell Thompson, one of the first “Black Mad Men,” will show and discuss "Channels Changers," his new documentary that features a group of Chicago-based African Americans who “colorized” advertising starting in the 1960s Civil Rights Era. Whether you’re a faculty or staff member, this event has something for you. Please join us in viewing this story of Black creatives in the Chicago advertising industry. An engaging conversation with Lowell will follow the film. Register to join via Zoom: https://forms.illinois.edu/chooseAuth/765794215. 

On Tuesday, Feb. 18, at noon, three fantasy authors will discuss how their books intersect with religion, culture and youth literature (Feb. 18 registration link). On Wednesday, Feb. 19, at noon, three international scholars will discuss the intersections of religion and culture in youth literature (Feb. 19 registration link). 

We are looking for individuals with no known hearing loss to participate in research exploring how information received by the left and right ear is combined by the brain. Compensation of $15 an hour; an estimated 2-3 hours of participation. Email binauralhearinglab@gmail.com or call 217-244-2154.

We would like to understand how middle-aged adults with Type 2 diabetes and no bachelor's degree approach the management of their diabetes. Participation will include a one-time session (no longer than two hours) where you will complete surveys and answer interview questions. Eligible participants will receive a $40 Amazon eCode. It will occur in person and can be done outside working hours or on the weekend. If interested, please complete this survey: https://redcap.link/7067b18d.

We’re U. of I. researchers studying older adults’ financial behavior. You are invited to participate in a 1-hour interview if you are an English-speaking adult 60 years old or above. You will be compensated $15 Amazon gift card for your time. Participation is voluntary, all information shared shall be kept confidential, publication quotes will be anonymized and research will be as per guidelines and policies of U. of I.’s IRB. Contact chunyu3@illinois.edu, ac62@illinois.edu or fill this short form: https://forms.gle/6dCwxUC8FoLvtdmS7 Thank You! Chunyu Liu, Abhinav Choudhry and Rachel Adler.

Are you interested in a study involving research that will lead to advances in screening, treatment and care of Major Depressive Disorder and Anxiety Disorder? We seek participants who currently have MDD or AD and participants who do not have either of these conditions. Participating in the study will involve completing surveys about physical and mental health and participating in an interview.

Seeking participants ages 21-64 who drink alcohol at least once a month, are nonsmokers, who had sleeve gastrectomy 1-5 years ago or who have not had bariatric surgery, and have a BMI of 30-40 kg/m2 (control group). The study involves blood draws, body composition assessments, alcohol challenge tests and surveys. Compensation up to $850 will be provided. Fill out this form if interested.

Help us uncover electric vehicle adoption intent and charging infrastructure use across our University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. You do not need to own an electric vehicle to respond. Completing the online survey will take 10 minutes. Please access the survey here: https://go.cee.illinois.edu/EV-campus-survey. You’ll have a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card in our raffle. 

We are examining the effects of complementary protein in a meal on the rate of building muscle proteins. 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!

We are looking for kids ages 8-11 to participate in a research study about the effects of plant-based foods on cognition, body composition and metabolic health. Participation includes eating plant-based snacks daily and six visits to our lab over three months. All foods are provided by research staff and compensation is $500. No changes need to be made to their usual diet. Email PODS-study@illinois.edu with questions or sign up for a screening call!

Healthy adults ages 18-40 with no hearing loss are invited for a study on listening in noise. The study involves online survey to determine eligibility followed by lab visits for those who qualify. Visits include hearing screening, listening to sounds and measuring ear and brain activity. Compensation for lab visits. To participate, complete our survey.