Research at the Beckman Institute
The Beckman Institute’s mission is to foster interdisciplinary research of the highest quality, transcending many of the limitations that are inherent to traditional university organizations and structures. The Institute was founded on the premise that reducing barriers between traditional scientific and technological disciplines can yield research advances that more conventional approaches cannot.
Overview of Beckman Institute Research
More than 1,500 researchers from more than 40 different University of Illinois departments as diverse as psychology, computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and biochemistry work within and across four research themes at the Beckman Institute.
- Beckman Institute research is focused around four research themes:
- Biological Intelligence
- Human-Computer Intelligent Interaction
- Integrative Imaging
- Molecular and Electronic Nanostructures
- The Beckman Institute is also home to three strategic initiatives that seek to unify campus activities in their respective areas:
- Health: Attitudes, Biology, Information, Technology, Society
- Imaging
- Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy
Research Organized by Themes
Biological Intelligence
The BioIntel research theme seeks to understand the links between the brain and intelligent behavior.
Learn more about BioIntel →
Human-Computer Intelligent Interaction
The HCII research theme seeks to enhance human-machine interface design through the optimization of state-of-the-art technology development and engineering of multimodal interface design concepts.
Learn more about HCII →
Integrative Imaging
The IntIm research theme is dedicated to bringing together ideas, modalities, and people in imaging to foster the interdisciplinary discovery of fundamental principles in imaging science, new enabling technologies for the next generation of imaging instruments, and novel techniques for basic and translational research.
Learn more about IntIm →
Molecular & Electronic Nanostructures
The general goal of the Molecular & Electronic Nanostructures (M&ENS) research theme is to develop a fundamental understanding of chemical and physical processes involving structures on the nanometer scale.
Learn more about M&ENS →Strategic Initiatives
Health: Attitudes, Biology, Information, Technology, Society
HABITS is a growing initiative that capitalizes on the Institute’s extensive, combined expertise in the life sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and engineering.
Learn more about HABITS →
Imaging
Imaging is a campus-wide, collaborative, integrated community of faculty, researchers, and students in imaging science, imaging technology, and the application, use, and interpretation of pictures and images.
Learn more about Imaging →
Social Dimensions of Environmental Policy
SDEP improves management of earth's environment through research on social and policy dimensions of sustainability.
Learn more about SDEP →Research Facilities
Biomedical Imaging Center
BIC is home to a wide variety of research programs, providing facilities, equipment, and training for research on nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. A recent initiative of the Center is the integration of magnetic resonance methods with simultaneous optical imaging. It became a unit of the Beckman Institute in the summer of 2002, fostering access to a wide variety of resources.
Learn more about BIC →
Illinois Simulator Laboratory
ISL is a Beckman Institute facility for advancing scientific understanding of human-computer interactions. As an Institute-wide facility, the ISL uses its expertise in the integration of advanced visualization, sonification, and interface technologies to enable researchers to conduct experiments in human multi-modal perception and cognition, cognitive and motor development, and multi-dimensional dataset visualization.
Learn more about ISL →
Imaging Technology Group
ITG provides state-of-the-art facilities in the Microscopy Suite and the Visualization Laboratory, serving over 400 researchers from the Beckman Institute and nearly every department on campus. A secondary focus of the group is to develop advanced imaging technologies, with an emphasis on projects in remote instrument control and scientific visualization.
Learn more about ITG →