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University of Illinois System News
Read the latest University of Illinois System news from the Office of External Relations and Communications.

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  • Flags from Syria and Turkey

    Devastation in Turkey, Syria impacts University of Illinois System community

    The scale of the disaster is Syria and Turkey is staggering, and our hearts go out to all who are struggling with these losses.

  • rendering of DPI

    Discovery Partners Institute and Illinois Innovation Network

    The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and Illinois Innovation Network (IIN), the pillars of a new statewide innovation enterprise led by the University of Illinois System, will magnify the time-tested formula for job creation and economic growth to a massive, unprecedented scale. 

  • Rendering of future Discovery Partners Institute headquarters with vibrant city building all around

    Discovery Partners Institute creates endowment to support long-term growth

    The fund was seeded last month with $3.5 million in revenue from Shield T3, a business created and owned by the University of Illinois System to expand the use of the saliva-based COVID-19 test created by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers.

  • Woman and man looking at a computer screen together

    Discovery Partners Institute expands reach of summer tech training programs

    The Discovery Partners Institute, part of the University of Illinois System, has significantly expanded the reach of its programs in the Pritzker Tech Talent Labs, which focus on driving more equity into the region’s tech workforce. 

    DPI will more than double its summer reach to more than 425 participants across six different programs: Digital Scholars, for high school students and teachers; Discover Computing Ignite, for high school students and teachers; CS Educator Intensives, for high school teachers; Digital Bridge, for community college students; Summer Tech Interns, for college undergraduates; and the Tech Apprenticeship program, for adults with nontraditional tech backgrounds. 

  • a rendering of the future DPI headquarters along the Chicago River, with parts of the iconic Chicago skyline visible in the background.

    Discovery Partners Institute headquarters construction bids underway

    The University of Illinois System’s Discovery Partners Institute is one step closer to its permanent home with the announcement that the Illinois Capital Development Board is accepting bids for the construction project. A groundbreaking ceremony for the 1.5-acre site is scheduled later this year at The 78, Chicago’s 62-acre neighborhood on the Chicago River.

  • the shoreline of a large, calm lake

    Discovery Partners Institute joins regional Great Lakes water resources initiative

    A new multistate partnership including the Discovery Partners Institute will create a hub of research and economic development around water resources in the Great Lakes region. Great Lakes ReNEW, funded by up to $160 million over ten years through the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines program, is a collaboration of more than 50 partners led by Current, a Chicago-based water innovation hub, and includes research institutions, industry, investors, government, and nonprofit organizations. 

  • two students looking at a computer screen

    Discovery Partners Institute launches new program for middle school students

    The Digital Explorers Program will expand DPI’s efforts to develop promising and diverse tech talent in Chicago. The program will be offered to students in grades six to eight on Saturdays at DPI’s downtown offices across two sessions. Students will develop computer science skills through coding and building a mobile app, while also taking part in team-building activities and solving problems with human-centered design thinking.

  • the IWERC dashboard

    Discovery Partners Institute launches socio-demographic equity dashboard

    The dashboard provides an in-depth analysis of the six distinct neighborhood types in Illinois and their corresponding socio-demographic variables, allowing users to better understand the characteristics of communities throughout the state.

  • aerial image of wastewater treatment plant

    Discovery Partners Institute receives $2.36M disease-control contract from CDPH

    The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) is expanding its wastewater surveillance in Chicago beyond the virus that causes COVID-19 under a Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) agreement that extends their disease-control efforts into mid-2024. The DPI-led scientific team is now also analyzing wastewater for evidence of influenza A and B. The new agreement permits this search to grow to include other pathogens, such as the polio or monkeypox viruses, should they emerge as public health concerns.

  • A teacher inside a classroom at Discovery Partners Institute points at a projection screen

    Discovery Partners Institute summer programs to serve record number of students

    Both the Digital Scholars and Digital Bridge programs seek to create stronger, more inclusive pathways of students into Illinois four-year institutions to pursue and complete computer science, data science, and engineering degrees.

  • Discovery Partners Institute building

    Discovery Partners Institute, UIC CHANCE expand Digital Scholars

    The Discovery Partners Institute and University of Illinois Chicago (UIC’s) CHANCE program, in partnership with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, today announced the expansion of its Digital Scholars Program to support and develop promising and diverse tech talent in Illinois.

    Digital Scholars, now in its third year, is an intensive, free, five-week summer program for high school students and incoming UIC freshmen.

  • The 2024 Diverse Supplier Development Program graduating class, sitting on a stage

    Diverse Supplier Development Program graduates 29 companies

    The University of Illinois System’s Diverse Supplier Development Program celebrated the graduation of 29 companies in its second cohort on April 26. The program helps business owners from diverse backgrounds grow their companies and increase options for serving as public-sector vendors.  

  • Anne & Don Edwards

    Don, Anne Edwards donate $10 million to U of I

    University of Illinois Board of Trustees Chairman Don Edwards and his wife, Anne, on Wednesday announced a $10 million gift to their alma mater, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – the largest gift ever by a U of I trustee.

  • aerial rendering of future DPI campus

    DPI aims to diversify Chicago's tech sector

    The U of I System-led Discovery Partners Institute's Pritzker Tech Talent Labs are a resource to help increase the diverse supply of tech talent for Chicago-area businesses. DPI Director Bill Jackson writes about why it is so important in an OpEd in Crain's Chicago Business.

  • close up of scientist working with sample in lab

    DPI and IDPH launch interactive online COVID-19 tracker

    The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced today a new website that tracks the levels of COVID-19 in wastewater samples in Chicago and other cities across Illinois.

  • DPI and IIN Information and Discussion Forum meetings

    Discussion Forums wlll be held in late August at each university to provide information for faculty and staff about the Discovery Partners Institute and the Illnois Innovation Network, two key parts of the University of Illinois System's research and innovation agenda. 

  • DPI aerial rendering

    DPI and UIC CHANCE announce expansion of Digital Scholars Program

    The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and University of Illinois Chicago (UIC’s) CHANCE program have announced the expansion of its Digital Scholars Program to support and develop promising and diverse tech talent in Illinois.

  • Chicago skyline

    DPI announces first round of seed funding recipients

    Helping communities utilize sustainable development strategies, creating a statewide pipeline to train computer science teachers, and integrating people with autism spectrum disorders into the technology and innovation workforce are among the projects funded in the Discovery Partners Institute’s (DPI) first round of seed grants.

  • Rendering of future DPI at the 78 in Chicago

    DPI awards more than $1 million in R&D grants

    The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) is launching eight, world-class research teams from the University of Illinois system and partner universities with more than $1 million in seed funding.

  • future home of DPI

    DPI & CDPH system to monitor COVID-19 in Chicago wastewater extended

    The Discovery Partners Institute, part of the University of Illinois System, and the Chicago Department of Public Health have announced the citywide system to monitor the virus that causes COVID-19 and its variants in wastewater will continue for two years, leveraging $2.14 million in federal funding.

  • A person's hand with tongs weighing cannabis buds

    DPI, Chicago, state partnership launches Cannabis Research Institute

    The Cannabis Research Institute is a joint effort by the state and City of Chicago housed within Discovery Partners Institute, which is part of the University of Illinois System, to provide a robust body of research and data to advance public knowledge on scientific and socio-economic impacts of cannabis usage and production.

  • Discovery Partners Institute logo

    DPI, CPS partner to engage high school students in tech

    The partnership helped support and encourage nearly 250 CPS students from a dozen CPS schools to explore the tech field this year. This workshop series helps expand DPI’s efforts to develop promising and diverse tech talent in Chicago.

  • A woman stands at a podium in front of a crowd, while two men on a projection screen sign a document

    DPI, DESY announce R&D, corporate development partnership

    The Discovery Partners Institute, part of the University of Illinois System, and DESY, a national accelerator lab in Germany, today announced a partnership to advance the commercialization of their research and support the launch of businesses in each city. 

  • DPI logo

    DPI expands vision to emphasize global leadership in the computing revolution

    Under this expanded vision, DPI will maintain its downtown headquarters as DPI North while establishing DPI South at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a quantum-focused facility established in partnership with globally recognized companies. 

  • future home of DPI

    DPI launches new education and workforce research center

    The Discovery Partners Institute has launched a new education and workforce research center, IWERC, with $3.9 million from some of the city’s most influential philanthropists and foundations.

  • DPI names inaugural director of academic affairs

    Phyllis Baker, whose nearly 30-year career in higher education includes experience in classrooms, research and high-level administration, has been named to lead academic activities for the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), a pioneering new research institute led by the University of Illinois System.

  • U of I System President Killeen and National University of Singapore President Professor Tan Eng Chye

    DPI, National University of Singapore launch innovation programs, establish Chicago presence

    NUS is Asia’s top university, ranked 11th in the 2023 QS World Rankings. Under this memorandum of understanding, NUS will launch its global entrepreneurship program, the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC), in Chicago in 2024.

  • Woman with laptop, her image reflected in the glass wall she leans on

    DPI, partners launch Chicago/Skills to develop diverse tech talent for Illinois companies

    Chicago/Skills will provide tuition-free technology training and paid apprenticeship opportunities to as many as 2,500 people over five years.

  • rendering of new DPI facility in downtown Chicago

    DPI receives $1.5M grant for clean transportation research partnership

    A multi-institutional and multidisciplinary team led by the Discovery Partners Institute has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation PIRE program to reduce pollution in South Asian cities and accelerate a transition to clean transportation.

  • Chicago skyline

    DPI shares in $7.5M award from NSF to improve science gateways

    The Discovery Partners Institute is among the recipients of a $7.5 million CyberInfrastructure Center of Excellence Award from the National Science Foundation. The funding will support a five-year project to improve science gateways. 

  • aerial rendering of future DPI campus

    DPI’s IWERC awarded funding to expand research on Illinois education issues

    The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) at the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) has been awarded a total of $275,000 in funding from three organizations — CME Group Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and Crown Family Philanthropies —  that will expand IWERC’s research on Illinois education issues.

  • Discovery Partners Institute logo

    DPI wins $5M NSF award to explore clean energy, equitable transportation solutions

    Working alongside the University of Birmingham, DPI will establish the NSF-led Global Center for Clean Energy and Equitable Transportation Solutions (CLEETS). CLEETS will bring together eminent climate, energy, data science, and transportation experts to search for ways to reduce carbon emissions in road transportation.

  • Tim Killeen

    Editorial: "What Illinois higher education could be"

    University of Illinois System President Timothy Killeen dropped by the Tribune Editorial Board on Tuesday. He delivered a refreshingly upbeat message about the state’s flagship public university system, with campuses in Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign.

  • Don Edwards

    Edwards elected chairman of U of I Board of Trustees

    Donald Edwards, an alumnus who now heads a Chicago-based private equity investment firm that he founded, was elected chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees during its annual organizational meeting Thursday at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

  • Don Edwards at microphone

    Edwards re-elected chairman of U of I Board of Trustees

    Donald J. Edwards was unanimously re-elected to a second one-year term as chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees during its annual organizational meeting Thursday at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

  • Don Edwards at board meeting

    Edwards-re-elected chairman of U of I Board of Trustees

    Donald J. Edwards was unanimously re-elected Thursday to a third one-year term as chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees during its annual organizational meeting.

  • graphic image of ventilator over lung image

    Emergency ventilator prototype developed

    A team led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Grainger College of Engineering and Carle Health has produced a prototype emergency ventilator to help address the expected surge in the need for respiratory care associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Woman and man in warehouse  sealing up boxes

    Enhancing health and learning in Illinois day care centers through air purification initiative

    After the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of Strategic Initiatives, part of the University of Illinois System, partnered with the Illinois Department of Public Health to manage distribution of 20,000 air purifiers to daycare centers, provided at no-cost by IDPH. 

  • 89,000 students strong

    Enrollment grows to nearly 89,000 students

    Enrollment this fall across the University of Illinois System grew to a record high for the seventh straight year, increasing 3.8 percent to nearly 89,000 students, President Tim Killeen announced today.

  • Karen M. Whitney

    Executive Committee approves Karen Whitney as interim chancellor at UIS

    The Executive Committee of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees on Wednesday approved the appointment of Karen M. Whitney as interim chancellor of the University of Illinois at Springfield.

  • two masked students studying on the quad

    Executive Committee approves test-optional admissions for two more years

    The Executive Committee of the University of Illinois System Board of Trustees on Thursday approved a request by the three universities to allow high school students to apply for admission in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years without taking standardized tests.

  • U of I System leaders on a stage in front of seated students

    Expanded Salute to Academic Achievement amplifies universities' access

    Since 1984, the president of the University of Illinois System has hosted Salute to Academic Achievement to honor talented students from underrepresented communities and counties.

  • U of I System President Tim Killeen wearing a hard hat looks where an Alton growth advocate is pointing during a tour

    Experience the journey: 2023 U of I System Leadership State Tour

    Chicago. Quad Cities. Peoria. Havana. Alton. Makanda. Just a sampling of the places the 2023 statewide tour activated new partnerships while building on those already in motion. It's all about opportunities for the University of Illinois System to develop even more ways act on its mission to serve the public good.

  • Extension announces inaugural class of Illini Science Policy Fellowship

    The University of Illinois Extension on Monday announced that five University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign graduates will make up the inaugural class of the Illini Science Policy Fellowship (ISPF) program, which matches advanced-degree graduates with mentors in Illinois government and Extension to gain hands-on experience addressing issues critical to Illinois.

  • COVID-19 update with university seal

    Fall 2020 planning

    President Tim Killeen has created a system-wide coordinating committee to support the system's three universities as they begin planning for the reopening of campuses in the fall and examining the changes that will be required to ensure both safety and excellence.

  • President Killeen on bench in garden

    Fall 2020 welcome

    University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen welcomes students, faculty and staff to a fall semester unlike any other.

  • compilation of students walking on three university campuses

    Fall 2021 welcome

    President Tim Killeen welcomes students, faculty and staff to the 2021 fall semester.

  • COVID-19 update and colorized seal of the university

    Fall 2022 COVID guidelines

    President Tim Killeen sent a massmail today to students, faculty and staff across the University of Illinois System about Fall 2022 COVID guidelines.

  • three campuses

    Fall 2022 welcome

    President Killeen welcomes students to campus for the Fall 2022 semester.

  • President Killeen at Assembly Hall with the Fighting Illini band

    Fall 2023 Welcome from President Killeen

    Welcome to a new academic year! Our three University of Illinois System universities are brimming with new and returning students, both on campus and online.