Olga G. Nalbandov Lecture Fund

Overview

The Olga G. Nalbandov Lecture Fund provides support to enrich the campus intellectual environment in the life sciences. Funding of up to $30,000 is available to sponsor public lectures or symposia on current topics of interest in the fields of biological and biochemical sciences. Lectures may be stand-alone events or part of a larger conference or symposium.

Eligible expenses include speaker fees, travel, facility fees, catering costs, and other costs associated with events that center around the public lectures. Cost-sharing is strongly encouraged.

Applications

University of Illinois faculty and research staff are eligible to apply for Nalbandov funding.  Learn more about how to apply for this opportunity.

Apply Now

Deadline to Apply:  7/14/2023

Review Committee

  • May Berenbaum, Entomology
  • Supriya Prasanth, Cell and Developmental Biology
  • Cathy Murphy, Chemistry
  • Rodney Johnson, Animal Sciences
  • James Slauch, Microbiology

For more information or to discuss a proposal, please contact Melissa Edwards in the OVCRI.

Past Awards

2021
  • Plant Sciences Symposium
    John Juvick, Crop Sciences
    $3,000
  • Microbial Systems Initiative—The Microbial Multiverse Symposium 
    Cari Vanderpool, Microbiology
    $22,000
  • Illinois Symposium for Reproductive Sciences
    Ramona Nowak, Animal Sciences
    $13,060
2019
  • Rubisco Oxygenase Symposium
    Nick Vasi, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
    $15,000
  • Big Data Neuroscience Workshop 2020 
    Oluwasanmi Koyejo, Computer Science
    $3,325
  • Making the Invisible Visible: A Dialogue on Veteran Traumatic Brain Injury
    Jeni Hunniecutt, Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education
    $12,500 
  • SENSORIUM 2019: Hosting Professor Mary Stoddard
    Mark Hauber, Animal Biology
    $4,000
  • Now, We're Taking on Cancer
    Rex Gaskins, Animal Sciences
    $15,000
  • Inaugural Lecture of the Deans’ Distinguished Lecture in Engineering and Medicine: A Public Lecture by Victor Dzau, M.D.
    Jessica Breitbarth, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
    $16,000
  • Public Lecture during NHGRI Workshop
    Alaina Kanfer, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
    $8,700
2017
  • The Enduring Legacy of Sol Spiegelman
    Nick Vasi, Institute for Genomic Biology
    $11,990
  • Outpacing Microbial Resistance 
    William Metcalf, Microbiology
    $21,240
2015
  • Looking in the Right Direction: Carl Woese and the New Biology
    Nick Vasi, Institute for Genomic Biology
    $19,000
  • Plants In Silico: Towards Realizing the Opportunity
    Steve Long, Plant Biology
    $20,000
  • Illinois Symposium for Reproductive Science
    Romana Nowak, Animal Sciences
    $12,500
2013
  • Nanosensor Networks and Exabyte Analysis from Farm to Fork
    Brian Cunningham, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Bioengineering
    $10,000
  • Feeding Nine Billion: A Path to Sustainable Agriculture
    Evan DeLucia, Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment
    $20,000
  • Imaging at Illinois: Symposium on Emerging Trends in Elastography
    Brad Sutton, Bioengineering
    $12,000
  • New Frontiers in Biochemistry and Biophysics of Cellular Membranes and Membrane Proteins* 
    Emad Tajkhorshid, Beckman Institute
    $20,000
2011
  • Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering Workshop 
    Paul Kenis, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
    $3,500
  • Illinois Symposium on Reproductive Science 2011
    Ann Nardulli, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
    $20,850
2009
  • The Electronic and Sustainability:  Design for Energy and the Environment Symposium
    Timothy Lindsey, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center
    $25,000
2007
  • Archea Symposium 
    Charles Miller, Microbiology
    $25,000
  • Art and the Brain  
    Jonathan Fineberg, Art and Design
    $35,000
  • 10,000 Francs Reward
    Jonathan Fineberg, Art and Design
    $35,000
  • Nursing Home Air Health 
    Mark Clark, Civil Engineering 
    $20,000 (NOTE: support returned)
  • Lauterbur Memorial Symposium
    Zhi-Pei Liang, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    $25,000
2004
  • Estrogens and Human Health
    Romana Nowak, Animal Sciences
    $24,000
  • Zeugmatography and Recent Advances in MRI 
    Zhi-Pei Liang, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    $30,000
  • Transdisciplinary Symposium on Recent Mass Die-Offs of Lesser Flamingos in Eastern and Southern Africa
    Val Beasley, Veterinary Biosciences
    $10,000
2000
  • The Biology of Crop Response and Adaptation to Global Atmospheric Change 
    Stephen Long, Crop Sciences
    $11,000
  • Biocomplexity and Biodiversity 
    John Cheeseman, Plant Biology; May Berenbaum, Entomology
    $27,000
  • Membrane Proteins: Experimental and Computational Approaches to Understanding Cellular Function
    Colin Wraight, Biochemistry; Zaida Luthey-Schulten, Chemistry
    $22,500
1998
  • Aging: The Impact of Nutrition and Exercise
    Karen Chapman-Novakofski, Food Science and Human Nutrition
    $20,000
  • Zeugmatography:  Before and Beyond 
    Zhi-Pei Liang, Electrical and Computer Engineering
    $10,000
1997
  • Bioinformatics, Structure, and Function 
    Shankar Subramaniam, Molecular and Integrative Physiology
    $10,000
  • Estrogens and Human Health 
    Janice Bahr, Animal Sciences; Benita Katenellenbogen, Molecular and Integrative Physiology; David Sherwood, Medical Molecular Physiology
    $22,000
1996
  • Conference on the Development and Evolution of Brain Centers for Learning 
    Susan Fahrbach, Entomology
    $20,000

*Funding returned 

About the Nalbandovs

Andrew and Olga Nalbandov were both highly regarded researchers in reproductive physiology. Andrew joined the faculty in 1940 and was Professor of Animal Physiology and Zoology at the time of his retirement in 1970. Olga worked as a Research Associate from 1959-1987. Olga was also an alumnae of the University (Ph.D., Chemistry, 1946).