Research

Seminars & Events

During the Autumn, Winter and Spring Quarters, the Committee on Immunology will host a seminar series comprising seven to ten presentations by an outside speaker or a member of the Committee on Immunology. A reading and discussion session will accompany the seminar series (Experimental Immunology). In the session, which meets for one hour on a day preceding each week's seminar, first and second year graduate students will discuss with their peers one original research paper of the invited speaker. The course is geared towards providing background knowledge for the seminar given each week, while allowing the students an opportunity to develop skills in analyzing the literature with students at the same stage of training.

Prior to the main seminar and the conventional question and answer period, graduate students of the Committee on Immunology are invited to a short talk session where they can question the speaker on his or her research or discuss research of their own. In this manner, we will provide students with an intellectual environment that reveals the discovery process and research frontiers in various laboratories and fields. 

First and second year graduate students are required to register for the course, IMMU 40200 Experimental Microbiology, and will receive one credit for attending the seminar series (and the reading/discussion section) in the Autumn, Winter and Spring Quarters of the first year of graduate school.

Informal seminars by Committee on Immunology graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who discuss the progress of their research projects. Refreshments are provided by the speaker.

Every Wednesday from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. in the Biological Sciences Learning Center, BSLC 205, unless otherwise noted on email notice. Abstracts must be submitted a week in advance to Beth Morrissey (ermorrissey@uchicago.edu). (Contact person: Roshni Roy Chowdhury)

Faculty from the Biomedical Sciences Cluster give short presentations introducing their research programs in their lab. Attendance is required for 1 st year students who should use this forum to select their rotations. Lunch is provided.

The course runs Autumn and Winter Quarter, on Tuesdays from 12:30-1:30pm. 

Incoming students from all graduate programs in the UChicago Biological Sciences Division (BSD) attend qBio8, the Quantitative Approaches Bootcamp.  The goal of the Quantitative Approaches Bootcamp is for our students to develop computational, statistical, and professional skills, and get to know your fellow first-year students in the BSD through an intensive retreat atmosphere.

LINK: https://biosciences.uchicago.edu/content/mbl-bootcamp

The division supports a Friday afternoon graduate student seminar series, given by students to students. This series is unique in deliberately excluding faculty and holds a lighthearted atmosphere with a good mix of science and humor. These seminars provide more senior students with experience in oral presentations, and provide information to younger students, often of special value to first year students as they choose their laboratories. Food is provided with BSD support, and these sessions are well attended. 

Each year the Committee on Immunology hosts a scientific retreat. The venue for the retreat varies from year to year. All COI graduate students, postdocs, faculty and their associated labs are encouraged to participate in this weekend event. Free time for socializing and entertainment are built into the schedule.(Contact person: Beth Morrissey).