Become a Beckman faculty member
Empowering power collaborators
The Beckman Institute is the home of collaborative research on a variety of topics related to science and technology. It offers space, core research facilities and staff support for administrative tasks such as proposal development, grant processing, visa processing, IT support, and more. Faculty members thrive on bringing together different disciplines to create new ideas.
The process for Beckman Institute faculty appointments
Are you a UIUC faculty member interested in joining Beckman?
Start the process in two different ways:
- Ask to join a specific working group
- Be invited by one of your faculty collaborators
In both cases, email the Beckman Director's office to start the process.
The theme co-leaders overseeing your prospective working group will help evaluate your request.
Then, the director will ask your unit head for approval. The director then will offer you a a zero-time, unpaid, renewable annual appointment. Once you accept the offer, you’re in!
What it means to be a Beckman Institute faculty member
Beckman faculty members are expected to follow Beckman’s mission and core values. They’re evaluated on:
- research productivity, excellence, funding
- record of collaboration
They should:
- list the Beckman Institute as an affiliated organization in publications and presentations
- acknowledge the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation on publications co-authored with a Beckman Institute Graduate Fellow or Postdoctoral Fellow.
- mention Beckman in news releases about work conducted at the institute
Three levels of membership at Beckman
- Full-time faculty members conduct most of their research within Beckman and have an office at the institute.
- Part-time faculty members conduct some research at Beckman. Many times, they will have a shared office at the institute.
- Affiliate faculty members, whose interests complement Beckman’s research, conduct their research elsewhere on campus. They often collaborate with full- and part-time Beckman faculty members.
All University of Illinois faculty members have a home unit on campus.
Grant processing at Beckman
Faculty members are encouraged to run their multidisciplinary grants through the Beckman Institute Business Office, as long as a majority of the proposed research will be conducted at Beckman. Doing so earns Beckman a portion of facilities and administration cost recovery, and does not change the amount of F&A returned to the faculty member’s home unit.
Elements of good standing
Requirements for a faculty member to be in good standing at the Beckman Institute include several areas of activity and achievement, including acknowledging the Beckman Institute and its core facilities (when appropriate) in your published research. Review Beckman Institute policies for more information.