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  • Photo of the research group

    AI predicts enzyme function better than leading tools

    Mar 30, 2023 1:00 pm3422 views

    A new artificial intelligence tool can predict the functions of enzymes based on their amino acid sequences, even when the enzymes are unstudied or poorly understood. The researchers said the AI tool, dubbed CLEAN, outperforms the leading state-of-the-art tools in accuracy, reliability and sensitivity. Better understanding of enzymes and their functions would be a boon for research in genomics, chemistry, industrial materials, medicine, pharmaceuticals and more.

  • Photo of a group of dancers on stage in colorful clothing.

    Illinois performing arts programs taking the stage downtown

    Mar 30, 2023 12:15 pm129 views

    The Illinois dance and Lyric Theatre programs will perform at the Virginia Theatre in downtown Champaign this spring for “Krannert Center at the Virginia,” a collaboration between Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the Virginia Theatre.

  • Portrait of the Illinois team

    Researchers reveal real-time glimpse into growth habits of nanoparticles

    Mar 30, 2023 10:00 am725 views

    For the first time, researchers have observed the process of nanoparticles self-assembling and crystalizing into solid materials. In new videos produced by the team, particles can be seen raining down, tumbling along stairsteps and sliding around before finally snapping into place to form a crystal’s signature stacked layers.

  • A graphic showing the structure of the nickel-iron hydrogenase enzyme

    Mimicking biological enzymes may be key to hydrogen fuel production

    Mar 29, 2023 1:30 pm1069 views

    An ancient biological enzyme known as nickel-iron hydrogenase may play a key role in producing hydrogen for a renewables-based energy economy, researchers said. Careful study of the enzyme has led chemists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to design a synthetic molecule that mimics the hydrogen gas-producing chemical reaction performed by the enzyme.

  • Graduating students posing at Alma Mater statue

    Illini Success report shows Illinois graduates' success in job placement, starting salaries

    Mar 28, 2023 12:00 pm4025 views

    The eighth annual Illini Success report shows that recent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduates experienced exceptional success in finding jobs, enrolling in graduate school or beginning volunteer programs. The report found that 95% of graduates secured a “first destination” within six months of graduation.

  • Illinois researchers professor Diwakar Shukla, left, professor Xiao Su, Anaira Román Santiago and Song Yin standing in Su's laboratory at the RAL building at U. of I.

    Advanced electrode to help remediation of stubborn new 'forever chemicals'

    Mar 27, 2023 2:45 pm733 views

    As new environmental regulations are rolling out to mitigate the industry-retired long-chain chemicals known as PFAS in drinking water, there are concerns regarding a new breed of “forever chemicals” called short-chain PFAS. Research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is helping shift the focus to include mitigation of the chemicals – which researchers say are just as persistent as, more mobile and harder to remove from the environment than their long-chain counterparts.

  • Diptych image of book cover and headshot of Teri Chettiar

    Illinois historian examines how emotional intimacy became politically valued in post-WWII Britain

    Mar 24, 2023 8:30 am927 views

    History professor Teri Chettiar said emotional well-being was seen as a key factor for a stable democracy in the period following World War II.

  • Compilation of portraits of the five Urbana campus University Scholars awardees

    University Scholars include five Urbana-Champaign faculty members

    Mar 24, 2023 8:00 am2295 views

    Five University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service. The award is presented by the University of Illinois System to faculty members from the Chicago, Springfield and Urbana universities.

  • Professor Gregory Girolami with Margaret Bryan's book open in front of him and an image of Bryan and her daughters projected on a screen behind him

    Research uncovers details about the mysterious author of early astronomy textbooks

    Mar 22, 2023 2:00 pm591 views

    New research by Gregory Girolami, the William and Janet Lycan Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois, uncovered previously unknown details about Margaret Bryan, the mysterious author of early astronomy and physics textbooks.

  • Photo of Kevin T. Leicht

    Book: Professional jobs have changed – but not for the better

    Mar 22, 2023 1:15 pm521 views

    The new book “Crisis in the Professions: The New Dark Age” examines the social, political and economic forces that are changing the practice and public perceptions of elite professions such as law, medicine and higher education.

  • Photo of a Japanese black ink painting showing waves crashing and a tree on the coast thrashing in the wind.

    Krannert Art Museum exhibition explores suibokuga and watercolor paintings by Shozo Sato

    Mar 21, 2023 12:00 pm1117 views

    The paintings by Shozo Sato, the founder of Japan House and an emeritus professor of theatre and of art at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, explore American landscapes, floral motifs and memories of postwar Japan.

  • Photo of Patrick Keenan, an expert in human rights law and international criminal law.

    What will result from the war crimes arrest warrants for two top Russian officials?

    Mar 21, 2023 8:15 am1028 views

    The International Criminal Court’s recent issuance of arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin effectively means any country cooperating with Russia is now cooperating with an accused war criminal, says Illinois law professor Patrick Keenan, an expert in human rights law and international criminal law.

  • Photo of then-doctoral student Tyler Kearney and education faculty member Jennifer Delaney

    Are TV sports networks game-changers for financing collegiate athletics?

    Mar 20, 2023 12:45 pm722 views

    Revenue from collegiate sports TV networks may decrease cross-subsidization of athletic programs by other units at these colleges, but athletic programs' spending also seemed to increase, scholars Jennifer Delaney and Tyler Kearney found.

  • Greenhouse student worker Eric Sylvester cuts dead branches from a queen sago palm tree.

    Nurturing a tropical paradise in the heart of the Midwest

    Mar 10, 2023 8:00 am2037 views

    Lexi Gomez is knee-deep in a pond when I first see her in the U. of I. Plant Biology Greenhouse and Conservatory. A fifth-year senior who will graduate this semester, Gomez dips a net in the dark water to clear the pond of debris fallen from the lush jungle of tropical plants that looms above. She attacks the work with gusto.

  • Jackie Joyner-Kersee displaying Olympic medals

    Jackie Joyner-Kersee named 2023 commencement speaker

    Mar 7, 2023 10:00 am3995 views

    Six-time Olympic medalist Jackie Joyner-Kersee will serve as the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s commencement speaker May 13 in Memorial Stadium.

  • Two smiling students sitting under a tree on the U. of I. quad in the autumn surrounded by fallen leaves

    Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative accepting freshmen applicants for fall semester

    Mar 6, 2023 11:45 am4196 views

    The Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is accepting applications from neurodiverse students who will be incoming freshmen in the 2023 fall semester.

  • This graphic shows an instrumented tissue mimic, that will use embedded sensors and probes to better understand and measure human biology.

    Illinois to co-lead new CZ Biohub in Chicago

    Mar 2, 2023 11:00 am32785 views

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has been chosen to lead the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago – a new biomedical hub – along with the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. The three-university team was selected to lead the new biomedical hub as part of a competitive application process for a research initiative explicitly focused on measuring human biology.

  • Photo of Edward A. Kolodziej, Emeritus Research Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert in international relations and global politics.

    Is Russia-Ukraine war heading toward stalemate?

    Mar 2, 2023 10:00 am2189 views

    One year into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the most likely outcome is a stalemate, despite the mounting cost in blood and treasure, said Edward A. Kolodziej, Emeritus Research Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an expert in international relations and global politics.

  • Photo of Brian Monson

    Study compares third-trimester sound exposures in fetuses, premature infants

    Mar 1, 2023 8:00 am2065 views

    A new study is the first to compare the sound exposures of fetuses in the last 16 weeks of pregnancy with their age-matched premature peers. The analysis reveals profound differences in their exposures to noise, language and the biological sounds of the mother, with implications for the infants’ development.

  • Portrait of Kathryn Clancy

    Book tackles myths about science of menstruation

    Mar 1, 2023 8:00 am833 views

    A new book from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign anthropology professor Kathryn Clancy takes an unflinching look at the many ways humans have struggled – and often failed – to understand one of the greatest mysteries of human biology: menstruation.

  • Sociology professor Kevin Leicht wearing a suit and tie, sitting in his office with bookshelves behind him

    What's the remedy for medical misinformation?

    Feb 27, 2023 1:45 pm631 views

    Sociology professor Kevin Leicht is co-leading the development of a software app that will alert clinicians to medical misinformation that's circulating on social media so they can address it with their patients if desired.

  • Photo of Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois and the director of the Labor Education Program in Chicago.

    Should the workweek be shortened to four days?

    Feb 27, 2023 12:30 pm1578 views

    There’s nothing sacrosanct about the five-day workweek, which is long overdue for an overhaul, says Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations at Illinois.

  • Image of the logo design for the 40th Insect Fear Film Festival, featuring a dragonfly bursting out from a rock or fossil.

    Insect Fear Film Festival celebrates 40 years of entertaining, educating about insects

    Feb 27, 2023 11:45 am638 views

    The 2023 Insect Fear Film Festival celebrates 40 years of entertaining and educating people about insects and their close relatives. This year’s festival features living fossil organisms.

  • Photo of professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo and graduate student Mary Ellen Mendy standing in front of an arched window

    Study examines COVID-19 pandemic's effect on Black, Latina women's mental health

    Feb 27, 2023 11:00 am796 views

    Black and Latina women had high rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms during the pandemic, but prayer had differing effects, kinesiology and community health professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo found in a study.

  • The graphic shows an orange and blue fractal image illustrating mathmatical order and chaos

    Theory sorts order from chaos in complex quantum systems

    Feb 24, 2023 9:45 am2060 views

    It’s not easy to make sense of quantum-scale motion, but a new mathematical theory could help, providing insight into the various computing, electrochemical and biological systems. Chenghao Zhang, a physics graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and chemistry professor Martin Gruebele performed a computational analysis of the new mathematical theory developed by Rice University theorist Peter Wolynes and theoretical chemist David Logan at Oxford University. The theory gives a simple prediction for the threshold at which large quantum systems switch from orderly motion like a clock to random, erratic motion like asteroids moving around in the early solar system.

  • Photo of Craig Koslofsky talking to a man holding a microphone, with a camera man filming and a portrait hanging on a wall behind Koslofsky.

    Video series highlights history of skin in the early modern world

    Feb 23, 2023 9:15 am967 views

    A series of eight videos available online highlights the research of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Craig Koslofsky on ways of marking and understanding skin in the early modern world.

  • Graduates enter Memorial Stadium in May 2022 commencement

    August and December graduates, Dean's List honorees named

    Feb 21, 2023 8:00 am12551 views

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign announced Dean’s List honorees and graduates for the fall semester 2022, as well as those who graduated in August 2022. 

  • Illustration showing fentanyl pills, a syringe, an ambulance and a chunk of crystal methamphetamine.

    Study finds 'staggering increase' in methamphetamine deaths tied to opioid co-use

    Feb 20, 2023 8:15 am1717 views

    The U.S. methamphetamine mortality rate increased fiftyfold between 1999 and 2021, with most of the added deaths also involving heroin or fentanyl, researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.

  • Photo of Ryan Cordell leaning on an old hand letterpress in the Skeuomorph Press and Book Lab at the Fab Lab.

    Mellon-funded project tracks how stories of racial violence spread, were reported

    Feb 17, 2023 8:45 am734 views

    Ryan Cordell, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor of information sciences and of English, is leading a project to examine how stories of racial violence circulated in late 19th century and early 20th century newspapers and how those stories relate to trends in contemporary social media.

  • Photo of Ujjal Kumar Mukherjee

    New climate change model finds nuanced relationship between temperature, conflict

    Feb 17, 2023 8:00 am735 views

    A new framework for studying the intersection of climate anomalies and social conflicts finds a strong link between temperature fluctuations and aggregated global conflicts, says research co-written Ujjal Kumar Mukherjee, a professor of business administration at the Gies College of Business at Illinois.

  • Chemical and biomolecular biology professor Xiao Su in his lab

    Study demonstrates energy-efficient conversion of nitrate pollutants into ammonia

    Feb 16, 2023 2:30 pm1487 views

    The nitrate runoff problem, a source of carcinogens and a cause of suffocating algal blooms in U.S. waterways, may not be all gloom and doom. A new study led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign demonstrates an approach for the integrated capture and conversion of nitrate-contaminated waters into valuable ammonia within a single electrochemical cell.

  • CUMTD bus on U. of I. campus

    Researchers illuminate gaps in public transportation access, equity

    Feb 15, 2023 12:30 pm1166 views

    Public transit systems offering broad coverage of stops and routes may still underserve the communities that rely on them the most, according to a new University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign study. The study, by former civil and environmental engineering student Dale Robbennolt and Applied Research Institute senior research scientist Ann-Perry Witmer, applies contextual engineering to help determine lapses in equity in public bus transportation access using data from the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District as a case study.

  • Mei Shen

    Chemistry professor named 2023 Sloan Research Fellow

    Feb 15, 2023 9:00 am1252 views

    Chemistry professor Mei Shen is among 126 early-career researchers receiving the 2023 Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. According to the foundation, the awards “honor extraordinary U.S. and Canadian researchers whose creativity, innovation and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders.” Awardees receive a two-year $75,000 fellowship to advance their research.

  • Triptych of images, including a painting with bright Northwest Coast graphics, a hanging scuplture made of suspended rice paper kites and a triptych of images in the colors of stoplights.

    Krannert Art Museum exhibition examines how pattern helps make sense of the world

    Feb 13, 2023 2:30 pm782 views

    A new exhibition at Krannert Art Museum, “Pattern and Process,” examines how artists use pattern to understand natural, physical and personal realms.

  • Educational psychology professor Kaylin Ratner wearing a blazer and button-down shirt, standing in front of a colorful mural with one hand on her hip

    A sense of purpose may have significant impact on teens' emotional well-being

    Feb 13, 2023 1:15 pm1315 views

    Educational psychology professor Kaylin Ratner found in a study of more than 200 adolescents that feeling a sense of purpose had a significant impact on teens' emotional well-being.

  • Graphic of Fulbright Top Producers badge within Alma Mater's reach

    Illinois among top producers of Fulbright US Student, US Scholar awards

    Feb 10, 2023 8:00 am876 views

    The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is among the U.S. colleges and universities that produced the highest number of applicants selected for the 2022-23 Fulbright U.S. Student and Fulbright U.S. Scholar programs, as announced today by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

  • Diptych image of two paintings of brilliantly colored cranes, one in a green landscape with pastel mushrooms and the other in a grey, devastated landscape of rubble.

    Exhibition of art professor's work examines human impulses, culture and the environment

    Feb 9, 2023 12:30 pm553 views

    A new exhibition, “Deep Well,” features University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign art professor Laurie Hogin’s work, including installation and sculptural pieces that are exhibited less often than her paintings.

  • A graphic of a DNA shield guarding a simple human figure with the liver highlighted

    Possible genetic basis and mouse model found for severe nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

    Feb 9, 2023 11:30 am692 views

    A mutant or damaged gene may be a cause of a severe, mysterious form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers have found. Mice and human liver cells lacking the SRSF1 gene show all the hallmarks of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, also known as NASH, the researchers found. The unique mouse model captures all three hallmarks of excess fat, inflammation and scarring in the liver, opening the doors to better understanding and development of treatments for NASH.

  • Researchers Margaret Yee Man Ng and Harsh Taneja

    Geography, language dictate social media and popular website usage, study finds

    Feb 9, 2023 7:30 am522 views

    Since its inception, the internet has been viewed by technology experts and scholars as a way to access information at a global scale without having to overcome hurdles posed by language and geography. However, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign  found that how people around the world use the same popular social media platforms and websites remains vastly different based on their language and geography.

  • Male and female social work students studying together using a laptop computer

    U of I online social work degree programs address diversity needs

    Feb 8, 2023 10:00 am747 views

    The School of Social Work at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is offering two new degree-completion programs – the iBSW and the iMSW – that aim to address racial and gender disparities in the school’s student population and the social work profession.

     

  • Nick Holonyak Jr. memorial service portrait graphic

    Media advisory: Holonyak memorial service open to news media

    Feb 7, 2023 8:00 am368 views

    A memorial service for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor emeritus Nick Holonyak Jr. will be open to the news media. The event takes place Thursday, Feb. 9, at 4:30 p.m. at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, 306 N. Wright St., Urbana.

  • Photo of Dominika Pindus

    Study links exercise intensity, attentional control in late-adolescent girls

    Feb 6, 2023 8:30 am1074 views

    Adolescent girls who engage in more moderate and vigorous physical activity each day have better attentional control, a new study finds. The study focused on girls and boys aged 15-18.

  • Headshot of Abbas Aminmansour

    Why are so many tall and supertall buildings being built?

    Feb 3, 2023 8:15 am1838 views

    Very tall buildings are attractive options in cities where land is at a premium, but they come with construction challenges, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign architecture professor Abbas Aminmansour.

  • PTI Director Michael Schlosser presents to police recruits at the Police Training Institute.

    Wrongful conviction course now required for all police recruits in Illinois

    Feb 1, 2023 9:00 am1872 views

    Starting in 2023, all police recruits in the state of Illinois must take a Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance course as part of their training. This course was first developed by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Police Training Institute director Michael Schlosser with leaders of the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield.

    The course impresses upon new recruits the importance of carefully gathering and analyzing evidence in investigations and not jumping to conclusions about potential suspects. It offers real-world examples of the harm that accrues from wrongful convictions, including a presentation from an exoneree.

  • A composite image of seven faculty portraits

    Seven Illinois faculty members elected to AAAS

    Jan 31, 2023 9:00 am3154 views

    Seven professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have been elected 2022 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fellows are chosen by their peers for outstanding contribution to the field.

  • Photo of a brick home surrounded by trees, with brick pillars on either side of the front walk.

    Site of integrated Illinois town founded by former slave is newest national park

    Jan 30, 2023 11:00 am1669 views

    The New Philadelphia National Historic Site in western Illinois, commemorating the first U.S. town to be legally founded by African Americans, is the nation’s newest national park. Several University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors were among those leading the effort seeking national park status for the site.

  • Photo of Richard L. Kaplan, an internationally recognized expert on U.S. tax policy and the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois.

    Paper: New law and regulations may diminish appeal of certain retirement accounts

    Jan 30, 2023 8:00 am678 views

    A new law and regulations affecting inherited retirement accounts could create hefty taxation issues for some beneficiaries, says Richard L. Kaplan, the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at Illinois and an expert on U.S. tax policy and retirement issues.

  • Jessica Brinkworth’s daughter, Jordan Brinkworth-Sykes, age 10, plays the game “Stop the Pathogens!” created by U. of I. student Claire von Ebers in the evolutionary immunology class.

    Teaching generations of students about outbreaks – with art

    Jan 26, 2023 8:30 am1030 views

    Most people don’t visit the health department to view student art, but here we are, in the busy main hall of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. We are wearing face masks, reading artist statements and reviewing more than a dozen visual and digital explorations of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, COVID-19 and – the trickiest of all health topics – human behavior. Nurses and dental assistants whiz by with young patients. People walk by to pick up birth certificates. Two kids sit in a corner and play with one of the art pieces.

    It’s obvious this isn’t just an art show. It’s an end-of-term presentation designed by students in my evolutionary immunology class for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. These creative works are meant to show the youngsters how to prevent the spread of respiratory infections in the community. These kids are using the art exactly the way it was intended.

  • Portrait of Brittney Nadler

    Illinois alum awarded Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship

    Jan 26, 2023 8:00 am898 views

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumna Brittney Nadler recently was awarded a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship. Funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Howard University, the Pickering Fellowship supports individuals who seek careers in the State Department’s Foreign Service.

  • Professor Tugce Baser

    Geothermal 'battery' repurposes abandoned oil and gas well in Illinois, researchers report

    Jan 25, 2023 1:15 pm2009 views

    Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have successfully demonstrated efficient geothermal heat storage while simultaneously repurposing an abandoned oil and gas well. A new study, led by civil and environmental engineering professor Tugce Baser, is the first field investigation of a geothermal energy storage system within the Illinois Basin – a geologic structure located deep within the subsurface.