2021

Chicago Quantum Summit
9:00 am–6:00 pm online
The fourth annual Chicago Quantum Summit will be a daylong program of presentations and discussions focusing on growing quantum ecosystems, commercializing research, and considering complex issues such as workforce development and inclusion — on both local and global scales. Highlights include opening remarks by President Paul Alivisatos, Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Prof. David Awschalom, morning keynotes and afternoon panels.
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Harper Lecture with Chuan He
7:00–8:00 pm online
“A Genetic Game Changer: RNA Methylation in Medicine, Agriculture, and Conservation”
Virtual Harper Lecture with Chuan He, the John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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PSD Staff Coffee Hour
8:00–9:00 am ERC Atrium
All PSD Staff are invited to socialize and reconnect during this EDISC hosted Coffee Hour
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Origins of Life Speaker Series: Dimitar Sasselov
2:00 pm ERC 161 and Zoom
Dimitar Sasselov, Phillips Professor of Astronomy, Director of the Origins of Life Initiative, Senior Advisor in the Sciences for Advanced Study, Harvard University
“Environments for the Origins of Life: Photons, Electrons, and Chemistry in Muddy Lakes”
From Mars to far beyond, our search is intensifying for evidence that life is not unique to planet Earth. I will show intersections between astro- and geochemical environments and prebiotic chemistry, which help us understand potential pathways to life - in the Solar System or exoplanets.
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Broader Impacts Fair
12:00–2:00 pm
Annual gathering of campus partners that work with graduate students to engage in opportunities that fulfill the NSF Broader Impacts requirement.

Harper Lecture with Marcela Carena
7:00–8:00 pm online
UChicago Alumni & Friends presents Prof. Marcela Carena, Dept. of Physics, EFI, and KICP, delivering a lecture entitled, “The Unseen Universe: How It Impacts the World We See.”
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Community Conversation with journalist Natalie Moore
12:00–1:00 pm ERC 161, online
The Community Engagement Working Group of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics EDI presents
“Community Conversation: South Side Segregation” with Natalie Moore, South Side journalist, author, and reporter
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Origin of Life Physics Colloquium with Jack W. Szostak
3:30–4:30 pm Maria Goeppert-Mayer Lecture Hall
The University of Chicago Department of Physics welcomes 2009 Nobel laureate Jack W. Szostak to the 2021 Physics Colloquium, Physics and the Origin of Life.
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GRADFair 2021
12:00–4:00 pm online
GRADFair is the annual fall career fair exclusively for graduate students, postdocs, and recent graduate alumni. Attendees can find internships and full-time jobs, network with employers, and learn about future opportunities. This year’s event will be held virtually on Handshake. Register by noon on Aug. 24.
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A fireside chat with Dean Angela Olinto
12:00–1:00 pm online
Join UChicago Global and the Consulate General of Brazil in Chicago for the second webinar in a series featuring conversations between leading scholars from the University of Chicago and Brazil on the impact of international collaboration on advances in science.
In this conversation, Angela Olinto, Dean of the Physical Sciences Division at the University of Chicago, and João R.T. de Mello Neto, Professor of Physics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, will discuss Angela’s research in astrophysics and cosmology, her personal journey from Brazil to the US, and her leadership journey as an academic, a woman in science, and a strong proponent of diversity and inclusion at UChicago.