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Neuroscience Graduate Program

The NSP at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is an interdisciplinary program of study and research leading to the doctoral degree.

We offer a rigorous yet flexible program designed to foster the growth of the student through research activities, close interactions with faculty, and exposure to top neuroscientists through our seminar series and attendance at professional meetings.

Neuroscience Program Events Calendar

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Neuroscience News

Nobel Prize-winning technology being studied at University of Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — This year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to optogenetics researchers. It is a new field of study, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of the few schools nationwide researching it.“Optogenetics is a light switch for a cell,” said Kai Zhang, a professor in...

NSP Faculty member, Xiaotang Lu, received the NIH Director's New Innovator Award for her work mapping connections within the brain.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Xiaotang Lu, a professor of chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has received the National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award...

Cultivating Affective Resilience: Proof-of-Principle Evidence of Translational Benefits From a Novel Cognitive-Emotional Training Intervention

AbstractAvailable evidence highlights the importance of emotion regulation in psychological well-being. However, translation of the beneficial effects of ER from laboratory to real-life remains scarce. Here, we present proof-of-principle evidence from a novel cognitive-emotional...

Beckman’s newest seed project will expand existing AI models into a framework that analyzes neurological aging.

In its fourth year, the research seed grant program at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology will fund one research project beginning in 2026.Members of the team include, from left, Nien-Pei Tsai...

Honey bee larvae can't smell - and that's actually a good thing

BEESEarth.com (Telluride, Colo., July 16) — Gene Robinson, Illinois entomology professor and executive director and CEO of the Discovery Partners Institute, led a study seeking to understand if a young bee never has to find its own food, does it still need to smell the world around it? “Larval...

Artificial Intelligence: Enabling More Sustainable Labs

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCETechnology Networks (with audio; Suffolk, England, May 6) — Jimeng Sun, a computer science professor at the U. of I., used training data from over 8,000 past trials to predict the outcome of more than 3,400 recent drug studies in a prediction model. “All this...

Faculty Spotlight

Mark E. Nelson, Molecular and Integrative Physiology

Mark E. Nelson served as the Associate Director for Student Affairs and the NSP Liason for the SfN Chapter in Champaign. Mark was honored at the End of Year Awards and Recognition Reception on April 30th with a small glass trophy in thanks for his time and service as well as in acknowledgment of his upcoming retirement. After 28 years at the University of Illinois, Mark will be moving on to spend time in another place he loves to be, nature. He will be hiking the trails out west. Check out his spotlight to see the latest Beckman article featuring Dr. Nelson!

Stephanie Matt, Research Assistant Professor, Drexel University

Alumni Spotlight

Alumna Spotlight: Stephanie Matt

Stephanie Matt, Class of 2018by Virginia WrightAs of July 2023, Stephanie Matt is a Research Assistant Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After five years of working as a postdoctoral researcher for Drexel, she recently won an NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) to investigate the role of antidepressants in HIV infection and inflammation in myeloid cells such as macrophages and microglia. Receiving this grant provided not only mentored support for her research career but also a place within Drexel University faculty. “It took...

Publication Spotlight

Temporal progression of Drosophila medulla neuroblasts generates the transcription factor combination to control T1 neuron morphogenesis

Abstract Proper neural function depends on the correct specification of individual neural fates, controlled by combinations of neuronal transcription factors. Different neural types are sequentially generated by neural progenitors in a defined order, and this temporal patterning process can be controlled by Temporal Transcription Factors (TTFs) that form temporal cascades in neural progenitors. The Drosophila medulla, part of the visual processing center of the brain, contains more than 70 neural types generated by medulla neuroblasts which sequentially express several...

South Quad - McFarland Carillon Memorial Bell Tower

Land Acknowledgement

As a land-grant institution, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a responsibility to acknowledge the historical context in which it exists. We are currently on the lands of the Peoria, Kaskaskia, Peankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw Nations. It is necessary for us to acknowledge these Native Nations and for us to work with them as we move forward as an institution with Native peoples at the core of our efforts.

More about the practice of land acknowledgements at the University of Illinois.