Institute for Functional and Regenerative Materials Speed Networking Meetup

About the meetup

The UIC Institute for Functional and Regenerative Materials announces its 2025 Speed Networking Event to encourage new collaborations in functional and regenerative materials. Open to any all UIC faculty researching in these areas, attendees of the event will meet other researchers in a structured rotation to exchange their research interests, resources and challenges, followed by free time to connect with researchers of interest. Attendees will then have one month to collaborate on a white paper to compete for Institute for Functional and Regenerative Materials seed funding to support a new project.

Registration is required to attend, and a list of all attendees — including contact info, research areas, and resources — will be distributed to the group after the conclusion of the event. A sandwich lunch with a vegetarian/halal-friendly option will be provided.

Seed funding opportunity

Only attendees of the networking event will be eligible to receive the award. Attendees should seek out collaborators during and after the event and complete a one- or two-page white paper outlining their proposal over the period of one month. All attendees will have the chance to vote on the white papers. The top two white papers will be awarded seed funding awards of up to $10,000. Additional details about the white paper, voting process and award distribution will be presented at and following the event.