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We Break Barriers.
The Beckman Institute was created to support interdisciplinary research among University of Illinois faculty. We foster scientific advances that couldn’t be done in any other way.
Our founder, Arnold Beckman, was an inventor and philanthropist who knew firsthand the power of interdisciplinary work.
We Propel Science and Technology.
The Beckman Institute is a unique engine for research. We're making incredible advances while helping ordinary people.
Beckman researchers have developed a new polymer-curing process that could reduce the cost, time, and energy needed.
We Help You Connect.
We offer a café with drinks and daily specials, events from concerts to research lectures, and plenty of study and meeting spaces.
The Beckman Institute was built to help people connect. Learn more about exploring Beckman.
Latest news
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News
Beckman Director's Seminar: Randy Ewoldt
Randy Ewoldt, a professor of mechanical science and engineering, will present "Squishy materials toolbox: Complex fluids" at the Beckman Institute's... -
News
Kari Foss joins Beckman as affiliate faculty member
Kari Foss, an assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, accepted an affiliate faculty... -
News
Researchers receive named fellowships from College of LAS
The College of LAS announced new named faculty positions to recognize faculty members for their contributions to their field and educational mission.... -
News
Phal featured on third journal cover
Yamuna Phal, a graduate research assistant at Beckman and a 2020 Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellow, creates striking images to represent her...
Upcoming events
Gather in the Garden
Beckman garden, west of the building through the cafe's double doors
Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373
Join Director Jeff Moore and your colleagues this summer for informal conversation and coffee in the Beckman garden, which is west of the building through the café’s double doors.
This Gather in the Garden Series will be from 10-10:30 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday throughout June, July, and August.
Read more
Yoga at Beckman
5269 Beckman Institute (fifth-floor tower room)
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this summer for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. Class will not be held on June 8 and July 27. All are welcome; bring your own mat!
Read more
Gather in the Garden
Beckman garden, west of the building through the cafe's double doors
Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373
Join Director Jeff Moore and your colleagues this summer for informal conversation and coffee in the Beckman garden, which is west of the building through the café’s double doors.
This Gather in the Garden Series will be from 10-10:30 a.m. every Tuesday and Thursday throughout June, July, and August.
Read more
Neuroscience Program Fall Orientation 2022
Beckman Institute Room 5602
Contact name: Stephanie Pregent
Contact email: spregent@illinois.edu
The Neuroscience Program at Illinois is sponsoring the Neuroscience Program's Fall Orientation 2022 on August 18. Meeting will be held in room 5602 at 12:00pm. This meeting will be for new students and their faculty advisors.
Read more
Yoga at Beckman
5269 Beckman Institute (fifth-floor tower room)
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this summer for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. Class will not be held on June 8 and July 27. All are welcome; bring your own mat!
Read more
Yoga at Beckman
5269 Beckman Institute (fifth-floor tower room)
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this summer for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. Class will not be held on June 8 and July 27. All are welcome; bring your own mat!
Read more
Beckman Director’s Seminar: Randy Ewoldt
Contact name: Darin Doty
Contact email: ddoty@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-6553
Randy Ewoldt will speak at the Beckman Institute's virtual Director's Seminar at noon Thursday, Sept. 1. Ewoldt, professor and Kritzer Faculty Scholar in the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, will be discussing "Squishy Materials Toolbox: Complex Fluids." The seminar will be a hybrid event held in Beckman, room 1005 and via Zoom. A boxed lunch will be provided to those who register as in-person attendees. Please indicate whether you will attend virtually or in-person.
Read more
Yoga at Beckman
5269 Beckman Institute (fifth-floor tower room)
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this summer for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. Class will not be held on June 8 and July 27. All are welcome; bring your own mat!
Read more
Frontiers in Miniature Brain Machinery: James Hinman
2269 Beckman Institute
Contact name: Anne McKinney
Contact email: amckinn@illinois.edu
James Hinman, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Illinois, will lecture on “Neural basis of cognitive maps in multiple reference frames” at 4:00 pm in 2269 Beckman Institute and on Zoom September 7, 2022. One of our MBM trainees will give an introduction.
The lecture is free and open to the public courtesy of the Miniature Brain Machinery Program. Click for Zoom details.
Abstract:
All animals navigate to goals, often to find food or safety. Given the evolutionary importance of goal directed navigation, it is not surprising that numerous brain circuits represent spatial information. The hippocampal formation maintains a world-centered, or allocentric, representation of the world and is utilized for plotting goal-directed routes. Cortico-striatal circuits represent spatial information in an egocentric reference frame, one centered on the agent.
An interesting computational problem arises as information must be transformed between allocentric and egocentric reference frames in order for you to act on that information, a transformation that your brain is constantly performing with great ease. I’ll discuss my work on the neural basis of spatial representations and several new directions that our research is moving.
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