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Innovation & Discovery

As Chicago's public research university, UIC offers many unique opportunities for undergraduates to conduct ground-breaking research with faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) and across the university. Being a Research I institution means that students are mentored by skilled faculty who bring pioneering and cutting-edge research into the classroom.  LAS undergraduates are involved in research projects that expand their learning, builds their problem-solving skills, and opens doors for career opportunities.

  • $ 5 M Department of Energy investment to support UIC research in Argonne National Laboratory-led project Community Research on Climate and Urban Science, or CROCUS.

  • $ 39 M In royalties for the HIV/AIDS drug Prezista® - - the most successful royalty producing patent ever developed by a UIC faculty member.

  • $ 785 K Mellon Foundation grant to support "Scholars Under Threat In The Americas," under PI Jonathan Inda of the Latin American and Latino Studies Department.

  • $ 5 M NSF grant to the LAS Department of Mathematics to improve the understandings of effective math teaching and learning for south suburban teachers and school and district administrators.

  • $ 3 M+ Awarded to the LAS Math, Statistics and Computer Science department through a prestigious NSF Research and Training Group Grant.

  • $ 3 M NSF grant awarded to the Department of Biological Sciences for its “Monarch and Milkweeds” project to develop culturally-sensitive curriculum that increases Latino student participation in Biology and Chemistry.

  • $ 1 M John Templeton Foundation grant for research on the philosophy of space, time and quantum gravity led by LAS’s Philosophy Professor Nick Huggett.

  • $ 1 M Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence (HHMI) grant to grow a professional learning community of STEM educators.

  • $ 1 M Awarded to the Department of Physics to support need-based scholarships, student internships and community-oriented projects that encourage minority and first-generation student participation in STEM.

Research Strengths Heading link

LAS is focused on the challenges of the 21st century; reframing health matters; creating solutions to urban issues; pioneering new paths in education; reducing community disparities; championing social justice; unraveling the human brain; harnessing the power of big data; and amplifying the creative voices telling the stories of who we are and what we will become.

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About Our Faculty... Heading link

faculty with students

Our more than 350 tenure-track faculty include Fulbright Scholars, a MacArthur Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts awardees, and 11 active National Science Foundation CAREER awardees.  In the humanities, Distinguished English Professor Luis Urrea’s most recent book was met with national acclaim, earning him the title of “one of our most important American public intellectuals.”

Faculty research at LAS has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, among many others.

Learn More Student Research at LAS