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 three research themes at the Beckman Institute.
- Beckman Institute research is focused around three research themes:
- Integrative Imaging
- Intelligent Systems
- Molecular Science and Engineering
Research Organized by Themes
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 →
Intelligent Systems
Intelligent Systems seeks to understand intelligent behavior in biological and artificial systems and their networked interactions, including the nature of plasticity and adaptation in these systems, and to use that understanding to advance science and technology, to promote the health and well-being of individuals and communities, and to benefit society.
Molecular Science and Engineering
The general goal of the Molecular Science and Engineering (MSE) research theme is to develop a fundamental understanding of chemical and physical processes involving structures on the nanometer scale.
Learn more about MSE →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.
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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 →