GenAI Dialogues: The Faculty and Staff Side of AI. Panel discussion: how educators and university professionals are navigating, integrating, and responding to artificial intelligence in their teaching, work, and decision-making. Wednesday 3/25, 3-4pm. SCD Starlight Cafe and by Zoom. Register to attend.
National Academies Workshop: Impact of AI on Education & Workforce Trajectories in Tech. A one-day exploratory workshop examining how AI is altering the value of human expertise, organizational workforce structures, and career pathways in the tech sector. Bringing together leaders from higher education, industry, and research institutions, discussions will consider how education and workforce systems can prepare individuals with the ethical, technical, and analytical capabilities needed to adapt and thrive in an AI-impacted landscape. By Zoom, 3/30/26, 8-4:00 CDT. Register to attend.
At Risk U: The Past, Present & Future of Academic Freedom, Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar series. Dr Jonathan Holloway, Henry Luce Foundation president, joins Chancellor Isbell and Provost Coleman for a moderated conversation about their experiences and observations on the role of risk management in leadership for higher education today. NCSA Auditorium, 4/7/26, 3pm.
The Illinois Diversity and Equity Science (IDES) working group and Center for Social & Behavioral Science (CSBS) Research Brown Bag Series. (2) Preserving Breonna Taylor’s Name: The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection and Protest Memory in Digital Archives. April 8, 12-1pm. (2) Alisa Hardy, Communication. You Might Break My Soul? Job Dissatisfaction Among Social Science Faculty. Mackenzie Alston, Communication & Sarah Jacobs. April 22, 12-1pm: Visit Brown Bag Series for details and registration.
Training Opportunities and Resources
REDCap, a HIPAA-compliant survey platform hosted by IHSI, is offering: Spring Office Hours, Thursdays through 5/7, 10:30-11:30am. Workshop on the REDCap Multi-Language Management (MLM) module, which allows a single REDCap project to be created, maintained, and delivered in multiple languages without having to build and maintain separate projects for each language. Monday, 3/30/26, 1pm. Register to attend.
GenAI Dialogues. The Student Side of AI episode recording from 2/26/26 is now available. Held 2/26/26, this undergraduate panel, moderated by Akash Saini, reflected on how they use AI in their daily lives, as well as the broader environmental, ethical, and societal impacts of these technologies.
Research Funding
Jump ARCHES Grant Program. The Jump ARCHESendowed fund supports collaborative efforts between interdisciplinary research between engineers, clinicians, and social scientists to improve the future of health care for all. Learn more and apply. Due 4/10/26.
Brady Education Foundation. Research Projects and Existing Program Evaluations. Developmental or educational research projects and existing program Evaluation Projects consistent with a strength-based perspective and have the potential to inform future educational research, practice, major philanthropic giving, and/or public policy. Next LOI due 5/30/26.
WT Grant Scholars. The Scholars Program supports career development for promising early-career researchers. The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand researchers’ expertise in new disciplines, methods, and content areas. Focus areas: Reducing Inequality, Improving the Use of Research Evidence. Requires a Campus Preproposal (due in April, date TBA) to secure institutional nomination. Funder proposal due 6/30/26.
NSF Improving Undergraduate Student Learning (IUSE). Engaged Student Learning Level 3 projects are expected to benefit large numbers of students or broad communities of faculty and instructors through large-scale design and development studies or impact research. Due 7/15/26.
Spencer Foundation. Racial Equity Grants support education research projects that will contribute to understanding and disrupting racial inequality in education and work to reimagine generative possibilities to advance educational equity……Intent to Apply due 5/4/26; Proposal due 7/1/26. https://www.grantforward.com/grant?grant_id=1174006.
Nvidia. Research Grant Application for Higher Education. Projects in Simulation and Modeling; Data Science; and Robotics and Edge AI. Provides access to computing hours and equipment. Four application periods per year; applications received April 1-June 3 will receive September decisions.
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