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  • Collaborative efforts produce clinical workflows for rapid genetic analysis

    With individualized medicine—one of the holy grails of modern healthcare—diagnosis and treatment of patients would rely in part on each individual’s specific DNA profile, enabling truly personalized care. But in order for genetic information to contribute meaningfully to patient care, DNA testing has to be affordable and efficient. In 2017, the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine (CIM) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign embarked on a two-year Grand Challenge under the auspices of the Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance for Technology-Based Healthcare with the goal of making DNA analysis a possibility for every patient. The first aim of the project focused on finding faster methods for clinical analysis of the whole human genome.

  • Box Community Summit June 27-28

    Universities from around the country will be gathering together to share ideas, concerns, and best practices. Learn how others are using Box on their campuses and how they address challenges they face.

  • NCSA researcher employs supercomputer in Ohio gerrymandering case

    Dr. Wendy K. Tam Cho, a professor of Political Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Asian American Studies and Law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Senior Research Scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), uses the Blue Waters supercomputer to analyze electoral maps. During a trial in the Southern District of Ohio, which concluded in March, Cho was called as an expert witness for the case where she presented an analysis based on more than 3 million simulations of possible electoral maps for Ohio. These simulations helped the court in assessing how likely and how much partisanship was part of the map-drawing process for a redistricting that occured in Ohio.

  • Registration open for Computational Genomics summer course

    Dates of Course: June 10-14, 2019

    This week-long intensive course for scientists and clinicians covers the basics of computational genomics, while integrating the latest technologies and computational methodologies. University of Illinois faculty teach lectures and lead hands-on lab exercises in a variety of subject areas including genome sequencing and assembly, polymorphism and variant analysis, epigenomics, and data visualization.

  • 2nd IBM PowerAI training workshop

    NCSA has recently deployed a powerful system for deep-learning as part of a Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant from the National Science Foundation.

    We are organizing a training workshop to help get started with ML and DL on POWER9 using PowerAI. Event attendance is open to the University of Illinois research community interested in using the system in their research.

    Please view the agenda and register for the workshop by Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Registration is on a first-come first served basis, as it is limited to the first 45 registrants per session.

  • Illini 4000 welcome reception - June 4

    Help us welcome the 2019 Illini 4000 team to campus during their annual bike ride across the country at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center on June 4 at 4:00 PM.This student-led non-profit organization is dedicated to documenting the American cancer experience through The Portraits Project, raising funds for cancer research and patient support services, and spreading awareness for the fight against cancer through cross-country bike rides.

    GET DETAILS

  • Mechanics, chemistry and biomedical research joins forces for noninvasive tissue therapy

    A fortuitous conversation between two University of Illinois scientists has opened a new line of communication between biomedical researchers and the tissues they study. The new findings, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, show that high-intensity focused ultrasound waves can penetrate biological tissue to activate molecules able to perform specific tasks.

  • Statistics Consulting Group Serves Campus Needs

    "This service has helped A TON”,  states Magen Rooney, graduate assistant from the College of Education, regarding the new Statistical Consulting Services (SCS). "When we began to analyze our data, we weren't really sure what tests to run. The stats consultants helped us figure out what to run and how to run them...I have spent probably at least 10 different sessions with the consultants. It has been one of the best resources on campus."

  • NCSA Special Lecture: "Cybersecurity to Enable Science: Hindsight & Vision from the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence"

    Date: May 30, 2019, 10:00 AM
    Place: NCSA Auditorium
    Speaker: Von Welch, NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence

    How can cybersecurity play an enabling role in scientific research? This talk describes the first five years of experience from NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, its vision for the next five, and its take on how cybersecurity supports scientific integrity, reproducibility, and productivity.

  • U of I System transfers Research Park oversight to Urbana campus

    The University of Illinois Board of Trustees transferred oversight of the University of Illinois Research Park from the U. of I. System to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

    Trustees approved the Research Park in 1999 and authorized the University of Illinois Research Park LLC in 2000 as the formal entity to develop and operate research parks in support of the university’s economic development mission. On the endorsement of President Tim Killeen and Urbana campus Chancellor Robert Jones, the limited liability company’s Board of Managers voted in October to recommend that the Board of Trustees change the legal entity’s scope to focus solely on the Research Park in Urbana-Champaign.

  • Smart City Illinois: Building Empathy with Better Infrastructure

    A team of Illinois undergraduate researchers collaborate with the city of Champaign to bridge the gap between data and people and re-envision technology infrastructure towards a smart city future.

  • Register now for the Linux Clusters Institute (LCI) workshop

    Registration is now open for the 2019 Linux Clusters Institute (LCI) Introductory Workshop,which will be held August 19-23, 2019 at the Rutgers University Inn & Conference Center in New Brunswick, NJ. This workshop will cover the fundamentals of setting up and administering a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster and will be led by leading HPC experts. 

  • Tune in to the 2019 Illinois Quantum Computing Summer School at NCSA

    NCSA will offer a remote broadcast of the Discovery Partners Institute’s 2019 Illinois Quantum Computing Summer School in NCSA 1030 June 17-20, 2019. Those interested in attending at NCSA are asked to RSVP by June 12, 2019.

    The Illinois Quantum Computing Summer School is an immersive educational experience for learning the basic principles and current applications of quantum computing. The school is open to students, postdocs, and faculty, with the targeted audience being theoreticians who have some background in classical computing but little expertise in quantum computation. The curriculum is designed to provide a "ground-up" introduction to the subject.

    View the full schedule. Questions may be directed to Jay Roloff, jayr@illinois.edu.

  • Machine Learning Enables Scientists to Spot "Comma-Shaped Clouds," Extreme Weather

    Meteorologists can get time-critical help in spotting dangerous cloud formations using artificial intelligence (AI), according to scientists at Penn State and AccuWeather Inc. The team used a "machine learning" program running on XSEDE supercomputers to recognize a typical cloud formation known as comma-shaped clouds in satellite images. Their results detected up to 99 percent of the comma-shaped clouds and 64 percent of ensuing storms in 2011 and 2012 satellite images over the U.S. Their hope is to develop an accurate early warning system so that storm warnings can be issued more quickly than possible today.

  • Writers Workshop Summer Hours

    The Writers Workshop will be open for limited summer hours during Summer Session II (June 11 - August 3). See the summer hours schedule below. For more information about individual or small-group consultations and to make an appointment, please visit their website.

    Monday - Thursday, 1 - 5 p.m., Undergraduate Library, room 251 or online Sundays, 3 - 7 p.m., Online only (select "Summer Sundays Online" from the drop-down menu at the top of the schedule).

  • What You Need to Know: The Essentials of Effective Teaching Workshop Series

    June 12, 14, 19, and 21, 11 a.m. - noon and 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. each day

    Registration is now open for the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning Summer Workshop series, titled "What You Need to Know: The Essentials of Effective Teaching."  The series as a whole is designed to get new instructors a head start on designing their first course, but any instructor (or future instructor) can attend any part of the series to brush up on their skills or learn something new.

  • University Library a Partner in Data Curation Network

    The University Library is one of eight partners launching the Data Curation Network. The three-year effort is backed by a $526,438 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Data Curation Network will serve as “a cross-institutional staffing model that seamlessly connects a network of expert data curators to local datasets and to supplement local curation expertise.”

    “Deep curation of datasets is a clear case where no one library will be able to hire and retain staff to cover all disciplines, data types, and file formats,” said Heidi Imker, director of the Research Data Service at Illinois. "This is an incredibly important—and incredibly challenging—effort, and we're thrilled to lend our expertise, learn from others, and contribute to advancing data services in academic libraries."

    Visit the Data Curation Network website at http://datacurationnetwork.org.   

    Read the full news release from the University of Minnesota at https://www.continuum.umn.edu/2018/04/launching-the-data-curation-network/.

  • Petascale Computing Hackathon - accepting applications through July 8!

    Date of Event: Sept 9-13, 2019

    Application Deadline: July 8, 2019

    The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is pleased to announce that team applications for the Blue Waters Petascale Computing Hackathon are now open.

    The hackathon is intended for research and development teams wanting to:

    • adapt their codes to run on petascale-class systems equipped with CPUs and/or GPUs,
    • optimize applications that already run on petascale computing systems,
    • accelerate machine learning and deep learning applications, or
    • implement other innovative uses of petascale computing systems.
  • Supercomputers Help Engineers Discover New Materials for Solar Cells and LEDs

    Research engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a high-throughput computational method using XSEDE-allocated resources to design new materials for next generation solar cells and LEDs. According to their calculations, these materials, called hybrid halide semiconductors, would be stable and exhibit excellent optoelectronic properties.

  • Research IT Portal Introduction Video

    If you haven't been to the Research IT Portal yet, click the atricle title above to view a 1-minute video that introduces key Portal features.

     

  • Artificial photosynthesis transforms carbon dioxide into liquefiable fuels

    Chemists at the University of Illinois have successfully produced fuels using water, carbon dioxide, and visible light through artificial photosynthesis. By converting carbon dioxide into more complex molecules like propane, green energy technology is now one step closer to using excess carbon dioxide to store solar energy – in the form of chemical bonds – for use when the sun is not shining and in times of peak demand.

  • Linear Accelerator Exponentially Grows Oncology Program at Illinois Vet Med

    It’s been 25 years since Illinois opened its cancer care service. Over that period, the impact of the program has far exceeded its size. We can credit a handful of clinician-scientists who have built a strong foundation, making the program’s outsized achievements possible.

  • Scientists spearhead convergence of AI and HPC for cosmology

    Leveraging data generated by the Galaxy Zoo project, a team of scientists is now applying the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance supercomputers to accelerate efforts to analyze the increasingly massive datasets produced by ongoing and future cosmological surveys.

  • Midwest Big Data Hub successfully transitions to second phase with new NSF award

    The National Science Foundation (NSF) this month announced the second phase of funding for the regional Big Data Innovation Hub (BD Hubs) program. Under the planned four year, $4 million award, the Midwest Big Data Hub will continue to be led from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Hub's priority focus areas will be co-led by five partner institutions in the region: Indiana University, Iowa State University, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and the University of North Dakota.

  • Black hole simulation solves a mystery about their accretion disks

    Scientists conducted the most detailed simulations of a black hole to date using a custom code and the GPUs on Blue Waters. A number of theoretical predictions regarding accretion disks have finally been validated.

  • Funding: ACRL Scholarly Communications Research Grants

    Application deadline: September 30, 2019

    The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is allocating $30,000 in the 2020 fiscal year to offer grants of up to $5,000 each for new research in areas suggested by ACRL’s 2019 report Open and Equitable Scholarly Communications: Creating a More Inclusive Future.

  • Funding: NEH Media Projects: Production Grants

    Application deadline: August 14, 2019

    The NEH Media Projects: Production Grants program supports the production and distribution of documentary film, television, radio, and podcast projects that engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. 

  • Beckman Institute receives animal MRI

    Eighteen University of Illinois colleges, departments, and schools, along with a generous gift from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, are funding the purchase of a Bruker 9.4 Tesla preclinical animal MRI system.

  • Illinois Technology Services helps the College of Veterinary Medicine install new linear accelerator technology for cancer research

    The College of Veterinary Medicine (Vet Med) recently installed a state-of-the-art Varian TrueBeam® linear accelerator, used by radiation oncologists in cancer treatment and research. It is a level of technology found in only a few of the veterinary schools in all of North America. 

  • Deadline Extended | NIH Grant Writing Series Faculty Nominations

    IHSI has extended the deadline for faculty nominations to participate in the complete National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant Writing Series during the 2019 fall semester. Junior faculty (years 2-4) may nominate themselves with a letter of support from their department head, a copy of their CV, and a brief summary of their research interests. Pleasesubmit your nomination to Maggie Berg by July 12, 2019.

  • Software Carpentry—Crops in Silico (July 31)

    What basic computing skills do I need as a researcher?

    How do I maintain my research code?

    How can I quickly and automatically process my experimental data?

    This one-day workshop will cover the skills you need to succeed as all fields become data-driven:

    Scripting for task and data managementTask automation with the Bash command lineData Management and Version control with Gitand more . . .

  • Health Equity Scholars Poster Session and Celebration Luncheon

    Please join us Wednesday, Aug. 7, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., at the Beckman Institute for a poster session and recognition luncheon for our inaugural Health Equity Scholars program. You will have an opportunity to meet the scholars and learn more about their work with faculty mentors and community organizations to address health disparities.

    Learn more and RSVP by August 2.

  • Food and Family Conference 2019 - Registration Open!

    Food and Family Conference | September 25-26, 2019 | Chicago, IL

    Join the nation's foremost experts in human nutrition, obesity research, and child and family health at the Food and Family Conference 2019. Hosted by the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in partnership with the Christopher Family Foundation.

    Click here to register: https://appserv7.admin.uillinois.edu/FormBuilderSurvey/Survey/uiuc_famil... .

    Detailed agenda coming soon!

  • Revisions to the OPRS Exempt Research Policy

    The OPRS has revised its exempt research policy. The revisions will go into place August 1, 2019. Read about the changes and how OPRS is implementing them here. Researchers can also learn about the changes through our informational session on August 16, 2019. The session will take place from 10:00-10:30 am in Room 121 of 805 West Pennsylvania Avenue.

  • Undergraduate Research & the Humanities: Challenges and Possibilities

    What will 21st century humanities pedagogy look like? How might we strengthen and diversify the humanities and engage and inspire a new generation of learners? What is already being done, and what new models and structures might we create, to shape a future of undergraduate research that re-centers the importance of the humanities in undergraduate education at Illinois?

    The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH) and the Illinois Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) invite faculty and staff to participate in this important conversation, which will begin with a keynote by Ellen McClure, professor of French and Francophone Studies and History, and Director of the new Engaged Humanities Initiative (EHI) at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

    Please register for the conference by August 1.

  • ACH2019 Call for Reviewers

    Deadline: September 1, 2018

    ACH 2019 is seeking reviewers to evaluate conference proposal submissions during December 2018 and January 2019. ACH wishes to establish a wide, and as varied as possible, pool of reviewers for this conference. We welcome members of any academic affiliation or professional role who are interested in the digital humanities that would like to help shape the representation of our organization at its first national conference. Although we are a US-based organization, we encourage those who live in regions of the world that are not represented by existing professional organizations to review, recognizing that intellectual, cultural, institutional, and other forms of diversity make a vital contribution to scholarship and practice.

  • Current Research in Digital History 2019

    George Mason University, Arlington, VA,

    March 9, 2019

    Deadline: September 28, 2018

    The Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media invites submissions for the second

    annual Current Research in Digital History conference <http://crdh.rrchnm.org/>. Submissions

    should offer historical arguments and interpretations rather than showcase digital projects. The

    format of short presentations provides an opportunity to make arguments on the basis of

    ongoing research in larger projects. Graduate students are encouraged to submit proposals.

    Some travel funding for presenters is available. Presentations will be peer-reviewed and

    published in an online publication that accommodates dynamic visualizations and narrative.

  • NCSA COLLABORATES WITH NGA TO CREATE THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL GEOSPATIAL SYSTEM

    The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has announced a new collaboration between the Blue Waters Project, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the University of Minnesota and The Ohio State University to produce digital elevation models (DEM) of the entire Earth, among other geospatial research projects.

  • VetMed Hackathon Oct. 10

    Wednesday, Oct. 10

    4-11 p.m.

    College of Veterinary Medicine

    The VetMed Hackathon will seek novel solutions to feline house soiling—the primary reason cats are relinquished to shelters. Open to veterinarians, students from all disciplines, and cat-lovers from the community! The winning team will come up with a cat-friendly and humane solution encouraging felines to eliminate at desired locations. Cash prize of $2,500.

  • Register for Fall CITL Workshops

    The fall schedule of workshops for the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL) is now available online and workshops begin this week. Registration is open for workshops on topics such as: 

    Compass2g: The Essentials

    Compass2g: Special Topics (Group Projects, Online Tests, Large Class Management)

    i>clicker: The Essentials

    An Emerging Technology Hands-on series

  • Virtual Reality (VR) Demo Day

    The VR@Illinois campus network, in partnership with the Virtual Reality Club at Illinois, presents:  Virtual Reality (VR) Demo Day on Friday, August 30, 2019, from 1pm to 5pm.

    Faculty, students, and staff are invited to join us at multiple sites across campus on VR Demo Day to explore how these technologies are being used in higher education. Visit each participating site to demo over ten different types of VR and AR headsets and experience immersive programs simulating archaeological digs, 3D anatomical pregnancy simulation, 3D art and modeling, 360 Videos, Google Earth, games, and more. Come and learn about what VR and AR resources are available to you across campus.

    For more information on VR Demo Day, visit us online at: https://go.illinois.edu/VRDemoDay

  • Bringing Cloud Computing to Data Analytics

    “Research has shown that evidence-based decision making has greater returns than gut instinct based,” said Business Administration Associate Professor Ramanath Subramanyam, who teaches data analytics courses in the Gies Business MBA program.

  • Tech Points Remote Help Desks Available 8/27-8/29

    Pop-up IT support desks will be located at strategic locations on campus to help students feel prepared and ready for success during their first week back to campus.

  • 2018 DATA SCIENCE DAY - 9/27

    This event is a celebration of data science from across our campus. Events include sessions focusing on the application of data science in genomics and materials science, the hesitant data scientist, a session on data governance, and a session on community data science. This event is open to all, faculty, staff, students, and the public..

  • Breakfast meeting on undergraduate data science education - 9/5

    A breakfast on undergraduate data science education on Wednesday September 5 from 8:30 to 10:30, Rm 314, Illini Union. Hear about an initiative for a broadly accessible introductory course on data science as an on-ramp to other educational opportunities on campus. The goal is that every Illinois undergraduate should have the opportunity to have a meaningful exposure to data science. RSVP by 8/29.

  • "Humanities and Arts in the Age of Big Data", taking place October 4-5

    The panel conversations on the 5th should be particularly engaging. Two authors of my favorite books in 2018 are panelists: Safiya Noble and Virginia Eubanks will both be speaking. Their respective works Algorithms of Oppression and Automating Inequality, are some of the best works on the systemic problems of big data processing that I have read in the past several years. 

    For more information visit https://publish.illinois.edu/humanitiesartsinageofbigdata/schedule/

  • Savvy Researcher Trainings This Week

    Introduction to Text Mining Concepts and Sources: Monday, September 17, 2 – 3:30 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    An Introduction to Prezi: Tuesday, September 18, 10 - 11 a.m., Main Library, room 314

    Introduction to Data Management: Tuesday, September 18, 1 - 2 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Reading Data Visualizations: Tuesday, September 18, 4 - 5 p.m.,  Main Library, room 314

    Advanced Research Strategies: Wednesday, September 19, 3 - 4 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Copyright for Educators: Thursday, September 20, 11 a.m. - noon, Main Library, room 314

    Internet Privacy: Filter Bubbles and the Deep Web: Thursday, September 20, 2 - 3 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Exploratory Data Analysis Through Visualization: Thursday, September 20, 4 - 6 p.m.,  Main Library, room 314

    Introduction to Data Management: Thursday, September 20, 6 - 7 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Managing Your Citations with Zotero: Friday, September 21, 1 - 2 p.m, Main Library, room 314

    Learn more and register online. 

  • LAW AND DATA SCIENCE SUMMIT

    The intersection between data science and the law includes pressing issues for the producers, users, and regulators of data – meaning virtually everyone. This summit examines how data science applies to law, looking at the promise of data science for our increased understanding of legal texts, law, and the important issues with which the law is grappling daily. It also asks how the law applies to data science, examining pervasive issues of privacy, ethics, and ownership.

    Location: Max L. Rowe Auditorium, Law Building, 504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, Champaign, Illinois

    Date: Oct 5, 2018   8:30 am - 1:30 pm

    Registration: Registration required.

  • Share Your Research Data through the Illinois Data Bank

    The Illinois Data Bank is an institutional, self-deposit data repository designed to preserve and share data produced by Illinois researchers. Depositors are given a persistent URL (DOI) for their data and the dataset will be publicly findable through search engines. Research Data Service staff are available for deposit consultations and assistance at databank@library.illinois.edu.

  • Savvy Researcher Workshops

    Check out this week's Savvy Researcher Workshops:

    An Introduction to Prezi: Monday, October 15, noon – 1 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Latin American and Caribbean Research Workshop: Tuesday, October 16, 9:30 – 10:30 a.m., Main Library, room 314

    Data Sharing: Tuesday, October 16, 1 – 2 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Share Your Video Online with Kaltura: Tuesday, October 16, 2 - 3 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    How to make Wikipedia edits that stick: Tuesday, October 16, 3 - 4 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Create scholarly and promotional digital materials with CANVA: Wednesday, October 17, 11 a.m. - noon, Main Library, room 314

    International Fieldwork 101: IRB and Beyond: Wednesday, October 17, 3 - 4 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Managing Your Citations with Zotero: Wednesday, October 17, 5 – 6 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Add Captions to Kaltura Video with Automatic Speech Recognition: Thursday, October 18, 2 - 3 p.m., Main Library, room 314

    Starting the Job Search: Strategies for Success: Friday, October 19, 2 - 3 p.m., Main Library, room 314