Events

Below are events that URMA members have shared that may be of interest. To see the details of an event click on the event in the calendar or view the entire listing below.

URMA Event Summary

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Apr

Science Sundays: “Microbiomes: fictions, facts, and factions”

Science Sundays: “Microbiomes: fictions, facts, and factions”

TIME: 3:00 pm—5:00 pm EST

FORMAT: In-Person at Fawcett Event Center
2400 Olentangy River Road
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Microbiomes are in and on mostly everything, everywhere, including in your social media. While much is known about how microbiomes are shaping the growth, development and evolution of plants and animals, including humans, plenty remains unknown. This talk will cover major findings emerging from research in the microbiome sciences, and how microbiomes feature in biohacking, alternative medicine, sports and culture.

Zakee Sabree is an associate professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus who investigates how microbiomes are integral to healthy digestive and physiological development in animals.

MODERATOR: John Beacom, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor, The Ohio State University

Mar

Science Sundays: “When This You See, Remember Me: what early photographic portraits can teach us”

Science Sundays: “When This You See, Remember Me: what early photographic portraits can teach us”

TIME: 3:00 pm—5:00 pm EST

FORMAT: In-Person at Fawcett Event Center
2400 Olentangy River Road
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Throughout this talk, Kate Shannon will share discoveries from her study of a large collection of 19th-century photographs at Ohio State’s Rare Books & Manuscripts Library. Within the archive are thousands of early American cased portraits, each a tiny, unique image within a decorative container. She will discuss what the collection preserves and what it leaves out, the mysteries surrounding its mostly unidentified sitters, and the materiality of the objects themselves, marked by flaws, deterioration, and small personal annotations. Together, we will reflect on early photography as an enigmatic, tangible medium for preserving fragments of human experience and consider what might be gained and lost in an era dominated by digital precision and artificial intelligence.

Kate Shannon is an artist and associate professor at The Ohio State University’s regional campus in Mansfield. Her artwork revolves around photography and has been exhibited widely, including at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Elmhurst Art Museum, and Masur Museum of Art. She has received support from the Greater Columbus Arts Council Artist Projects Grant, the Coca-Cola Critical Difference for Women Grant Program, and The Ohio State University’s Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning. She has also received The Ohio State University at Mansfield’s awards for both Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Research. During 2025-2026, she served as The Ohio State University’s Artist Laureate, traveling across Ohio to connect with people through photography. Kate currently lives in Hilliard, Ohio, with her husband, kids, and cat.

MODERATOR: John Beacom, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor, The Ohio State University

Dec

Science Sundays: “The promise and challenge of educational mobility”

Science Sundays: “The promise and challenge of educational mobility”

TIME: 3:00 pm—5:00 pm EST

FORMAT: In-Person at Fawcett Event Center
2400 Olentangy River Road
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Whenever the American dream is mentioned, we usually think about upward social and economic mobility and, more specifically, how people achieve more than prior generations. A college or university degree is often the conduit through which such climbing happens. But what does the process of educational mobility look like in reality? And in what ways might such a climb differ among college students of distinct backgrounds? In this talk, Professor Roscigno shares several lessons learned—about obstacles to mobility but also resilience and success—from his own unique study of 1,000 college freshmen that he followed throughout the entirety of their college years.

Vincent Roscigno is an Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor in the Department of Sociology. He has spent the entirety of his career thus far, since 1996, at The Ohio State University. He studies social stratification and inequality, processes of social mobility, and outcomes and experiences within educational institutions and workplaces.

MODERATOR: John Beacom, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor and Director of CCAPP, The Ohio State University

Nov

Science Sundays: “The vigilant ribosome: how the cell decides when to live or die”

Science Sundays: “The vigilant ribosome: how the cell decides when to live or die”

TIME: 3:00 pm—5:00 pm EST

FORMAT: In-Person at Fawcett Event Center
2400 Olentangy River Road
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Every cell burns a staggering share of its energy building proteins, one ribosome-driven event at a time. But when trouble strikes—radiation, toxins, a damaged molecule of RNA, nutrient starvation—those ribosomes stall. They collide. And through that collision, a signal is born. The ribosome doesn’t just make proteins; it keeps watch, and it decides: adapt, arrest, or die. Come learn how a stalled ribosome becomes a life-or-death switch for the cell—and what that means for cancer, aging, and disease.

Dr. Rachel Green received her BSc degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1986 and her PhD from Harvard University in 1993. Her post-doctoral work was performed at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she began her work on ribosomes. She has been a member of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine since 1998. Dr. Green is currently a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor and serves as Director of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics. She has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator since 2000.

MODERATOR: John Beacom,

Oct

Science Sundays: “Quantum computers: the hype, the science, and the need”

Science Sundays: “Quantum computers: the hype, the science, and the need”

TIME: 3:00 pm—5:00 pm EST

FORMAT: In-Person at Fawcett Event Center
2400 Olentangy River Road
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Classical computers — the kind that come to mind when we say “computer” — are extraordinarily powerful; they’ve sent people to the moon, mapped the human genome, and discovered new drugs. What then is a quantum computer and why do we need one at all? What is the difference between the fundamental unit of information in these two cases: the (classical) bit versus the (quantum) qubit? Why can’t a classical machine ever fully catch up to a quantum one? And why are governments and companies pouring billions of dollars into quantum computing research right now? This Science Sundays talk will discuss these questions and more!

Nandini Trivedi is a professor in the Department of Physics and an Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor at The Ohio State University. She received her undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and a PhD in physics in 1987 from Cornell University. After post-doctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the State University of New York, Stony Brook, she joined Argonne National Laboratory as a staff scientist. In 1995, she joined the faculty of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. Since 2004, she has been a professor of physics at The Ohio State University. Prof. Trivedi’s research is in understanding emergent phases in quantum matter due to strong correlations and topology.

MODERATOR: John Beacom,

PAST EVENT

Sep

Science Sundays: “Outraged: why we fight about morality and politics and how to find common ground”

Science Sundays: “Outraged: why we fight about morality and politics and how to find common ground”

TIME: 3:00 pm—5:00 pm EST

FORMAT: In-Person at 2400 Olentangy River Road
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

It’s obvious we disagree about politics. It’s less obvious why we disagree. It might seem like liberals and conservatives have different moral minds, but they don’t. We all have the same harm-based moral minds. We all worry about protecting the vulnerable—but just see different people as vulnerable to victimization. This talk explores human nature and moral psychology, and will give you practical solutions for having conversations across the political divide.

Kurt Gray is the Weary Foundation Endowed Chair in Social Psychology at Ohio State, where he directs the Deepest Beliefs Lab and the Collaborative for Science of Polarization and Misinformation (C-SPAM). He studies how people decide right from wrong, and how our minds make sense of God, AI, and politics.

MODERATOR: John Beacom, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor and Director of CCAPP, The Ohio State University

PAST EVENT

Sep

2028 URMA Annual Conference Host Information Session

2028 URMA Annual Conference Host Information Session

TIME: 2:00 pm—3:00 pm EST

FORMAT: On-Line

Are you interested in applying to host the 2028 URMA Annual Conference at your institution? Attend this info session, hosted by URMA Conference Mentor, and find out what hosting entails, how the board and planning committee can support you, the benefits of having URMA members spend time on your campus, and how the event went for previous conference hosts. Get all your questions answered!

PAST EVENT

Jul

URMA Annual Conference Hosting Info Session

URMA Annual Conference Hosting Info Session

TIME: 1:00 pm—2:00 pm EST

FORMAT: Zoom

Each year, the URMA Annual Conference offers members an unmatched way to learn about best practices, share your wins, and build a professional network. Are you interested in hosting this valuable event on your campus? URMA Conference Mentor Alyssa LaFaro, who hosted the conference in 2024 at UNC-Chapel Hill, will hold an information session for those considering bringing the conference to their campuses or institutions in the next couple of years.

This session will address:
• what hosting entails
• gaining buy-in from your institution’s leadership
• crafting a successful proposal
• working with the URMA board
• logistical and financial aspects of hosting

There will also be time for questions. Even if you’re a little curious about hosting but aren’t quite ready to commit for next year, please feel free to attend to get your questions answered. See you there!

PAST EVENT

Oct

2nd Annual Schoenberg Lectureship in partnership with Science Sundays: “Shooting the messenger: ‘Antisense’ therapies for rare diseases”

2nd Annual Schoenberg Lectureship in partnership with Science Sundays: “Shooting the messenger: ‘Antisense’ therapies for rare diseases”

TIME: 3:00 pm—5:00 pm EST

FORMAT: In-Person at Fawcett Event Center
2400 Olentangy River Rd.
Columbus, OH 43210
United States

Ongoing basic research to understand how cells decode the information present in our genes has recently made it possible to develop new types of drugs. We will discuss one of the key steps in this genetic decoding, namely how messenger RNA (mRNA) undergoes splicing. Splicing edits each mRNA to remove non-coding segments, so that the information it carries can be used to make a protein. We will also discuss how mRNA splicing can be precisely manipulated with designer drugs called antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), for example to correct defective splicing in the context of disease. One notable example we will discuss is an ASO drug that is being used to prevent or treat a deadly neurodegenerative disease.

This event is free and open to the public.

PAST EVENT

Mar

AppSciComm Storytelling Series: Beyond the News Release

AppSciComm Storytelling Series: Beyond the News Release

TIME: 4:00 pm— EST

PIOs are often tasked with finding ways to highlight their institution’s expertise. This session is aimed at discussing ways to do this that don’t rely on traditional news releases. We’ll talk about both formats for highlighting expertise and how to generate story ideas. (Hint: it’s helpful if you know some curious kids!)

MODERATOR: Christina Dierkes,

PAST EVENT

Apr

URMA Conference Travel Grant Deadline

URMA Conference Travel Grant Deadline

TIME: 8:00 am—5:00 pm EST

The University Research Magazine Association is pleased to announce the Nick Houtman Travel Grants for the annual URMA Conference. Travel grants cover half of URMA conference travel expenses – up to $1,000. This year’s conference at the University of Pennsylvania hosted by Team Penn will be amazing. Registration is online at https://urma.org/2023-conference.

Travel grant recipients are required to submit a brief synopsis of their experiences at the conference to be posted to the URMA website. Priority will be given to URMA members who have not attended the conference. Members who have received a travel grant in the past are not eligible.

The deadline to apply for a travel grant is Friday, May 5. Recipients will be notified by May 12.

The travel grant application is attached. To apply, please return it to me at lindsay.lewis@bcm.edu.

PAST EVENT