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Upcoming events
Gather in the Atrium
Center atrium during fall and winter months
Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373
Join Director Nadya Mason and your colleagues this fall for informal conversation and coffee in the Beckman atrium.
This Gather in the Atrium Series will be from 10-10:30 a.m. every Tuesday through the spring semester. When the nice weather returns in the coming months, we will move these coffee sessions outside to the Beckman west garden.
Yoga at Beckman
Beckman Institute Room 5269-5th Floor Tower
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this spring for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. All are welcome bring your own mat!
Beckman Special Director’s/Molecular Science and Engineering Seminar: Rajeev Assary
3269 Beckman Institute
Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373
Rajeev Assary of Argonne National Laboratory will deliver a Beckman Institute Special Director's/Molecular Science and Engineering Seminar at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10. Dr. Assary, group leader of molecular materials in the ANL Materials Science Division, will present “Insights into molecular materials for energy: Let’s start from computing …”
Gather in the Atrium
Center atrium during fall and winter months
Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373
Join Director Nadya Mason and your colleagues this fall for informal conversation and coffee in the Beckman atrium.
This Gather in the Atrium Series will be from 10-10:30 a.m. every Tuesday through the spring semester. When the nice weather returns in the coming months, we will move these coffee sessions outside to the Beckman west garden.
Self-Care Seminar Lunch and Learn: Joshua Hagerstrom
5602 Beckman Institute
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Title: "How do you Recharge? Burnout Prevention Through the Lens of Focusing on Self First."
Speaker: Joshua Hagerstrom, LCPC-Clinical Counselor, Faculty/Staff Assistance Services, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign.
Please join us as Joshua Hagerstrom speaks about ways to help prevent burnout by utilizing self-care techniques.
This event takes place on February 14 in room 5602. Everyone is encouraged to bring their own lunch.
Yoga at Beckman
Beckman Institute Room 5269-5th Floor Tower
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this spring for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. All are welcome bring your own mat!
Cookie Collab
Beckman Institute Atrium
Join Beckman Director Nadya Mason and other members of the Beckman community for coffee and cookies in the Beckman Atrium. The Cookie Collab is scheduled for 3 p.m. the third Thursday of each month.
Gather in the Atrium
Center atrium during fall and winter months
Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373
Join Director Nadya Mason and your colleagues this fall for informal conversation and coffee in the Beckman atrium.
This Gather in the Atrium Series will be from 10-10:30 a.m. every Tuesday through the spring semester. When the nice weather returns in the coming months, we will move these coffee sessions outside to the Beckman west garden.
The Grainger College of Engineering Investiture of Jonathan Makela
Beckman Institute Room 1025-Auditorium
Contact name: Canaan Daniels
Contact email: canaan@illinois.edu
Please join us as the Grainger College of Engineering, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering invests Dr. Jonathan Makela, as the Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering. This distinction acknowledges Dr. Makela's contributions to the field of engineering in teaching, research, and service. The award ceremony will take place on February 21st at 4:00 pm in the Beckman Institute Auditorium.
Yoga at Beckman
Beckman Institute Room 5269-5th Floor Tower
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this spring for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. All are welcome bring your own mat!
Reading for pleasure is great for your brain: A fireside chat at The Literary Book Bar
The Literary Book Bar, 122 N. Neil St., Champaign
Contact name: Lexie Kesler
Contact email: lkesler@illinois.edu
Have you ever described a book as “pulling you in?”
Science tells us that being immersed in a story isn’t just entertaining — it’s also good for your brain.
Whether you’re thumbing through a high-stakes thriller, helping a literary sleuth solve the perfect crime, or questing with a crew of fantastical characters, your attention, memory, and problem-solving skills are engaged from the first page. It's what scientists call a “whole-brain” experience: the “pull” of immersive prose.
Dr. Liz Stine-Morrow and Dr. Melissa Troyer are scientists and avid bookworms who study the benefits of reading in all of its brain-changing, knowledge-making glory. Their advice: keep doing it, and your mind will thank you.
Drop by The Literary in Downtown Champaign at
5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23
for an informal discussion and Q&A about reading and the brain. Bring your questions and your TBR list (and be prepared to pick up a few new titles, too).Meet the panelists:
Dr. Liz Stine-Morrow
(she/her) is Professor Emerita and a research scientist in educational psychology and in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Technology. Her field of research is cognitive aging, which investigates how mental abilities, such as memory and attention, are shaped by the aging process and experiences through the adult lifespan. She is particularly interested in age-related change in language comprehension and strategies for maintaining communication skills into old age. Her email is eals@illinois.edu.Dr. Melissa Troyer
(she/her) is a postdoctoral fellow at the Beckman Institute and received her Ph.D. in cognitive science from UCSD in 2019. Melissa’s research focuses on how differences in what people know influence how they read — including linking language to meaning, forming expectations about upcoming language, and (potentially) learning from language. Her email is troyer1@illinois.edu.Meet the moderator:
Melinh Lai
(she/her) is a psychology Ph.D. student specializing in figuring out how we piece together meaning from the things we read. As a youngest sibling, she is plagued by FOMO (fear of missing out) and the need to insert herself into other people’s conversations, which is why she is absolutely tickled about moderating this event. Her email is melinhl2@illinois.edu.
The Grainger College of Engineering Investiture of Mark Cohen
Beckman Institute Room 1025-Auditorium
Contact name: Canaan Daniels
Contact email: canaan@illinois.edu
Please join us as the Grainger College of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering invests the Dean of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Dr. Mark Cohen, as the Founder Professor in Engineering. This distinction acknowledges Dr. Cohen’s contributions to the engineering field, specializing in the partnership of engineering and healthcare. The award ceremony will take place on February 24th at 3:00 pm in the Beckman Institute Auditorium.
Gather in the Atrium
Center atrium during fall and winter months
Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373
Join Director Nadya Mason and your colleagues this fall for informal conversation and coffee in the Beckman atrium.
This Gather in the Atrium Series will be from 10-10:30 a.m. every Tuesday through the spring semester. When the nice weather returns in the coming months, we will move these coffee sessions outside to the Beckman west garden.
Graduate Student Seminar: Cui, Kou
1005 Beckman Institute and Zoom
Contact name: Chaimongkol Saengow
Contact email: saengow@illinois.edu
Two graduate students will present their research at the third Beckman Graduate Student Seminar of the spring 2023 semester: Jilai Cui, neuroscience program; and Zhengchang Kou, electrical and computer engineering.
The event takes place Wednesday, Mar. 1 at noon in 1005 Beckman Institute and on Zoom. Register in advance to attend in person or on Zoom.
Yoga at Beckman
Beckman Institute Room 5269-5th Floor Tower
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this spring for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. All are welcome bring your own mat!
New-to-Beckman tour
MRI Exhibit
Contact name: Lexie Kesler
Contact email: lkesler@illinois.edu
Come find out more about the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology! Learn about the barrier-busting interdisciplinary research facility and community of innovation. Tours will be offered the first Thursday of the month from 10-10:30 a.m.
Gather in the Atrium
Center atrium during fall and winter months
Contact name: Stacy Olson
Contact email: srolson@illinois.edu
Contact phone: 217-244-8373
Join Director Nadya Mason and your colleagues this fall for informal conversation and coffee in the Beckman atrium.
This Gather in the Atrium Series will be from 10-10:30 a.m. every Tuesday through the spring semester. When the nice weather returns in the coming months, we will move these coffee sessions outside to the Beckman west garden.
Yoga at Beckman
Beckman Institute Room 5269-5th Floor Tower
Contact name: Elena Romanova
Contact email: romanova@illinois.edu
Join us at noon on Wednesdays this spring for restorative yoga with a view! All sessions are free and will be held in Beckman's fifth-floor tower room. All are welcome bring your own mat!