Speaker: Susan Martinis, Ph.D.

Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Member of the VinUniversity Academic Advisory Board

Wednesday, October 20, 2021, 8 pm Hanoi time | Zoom Meeting

Abstract: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of America’s leading research institutions, and our ecosystem for innovation and discovery is unique in origin, scope and scale. Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Susan Martinis will discuss how a university, founded 150 years ago to teach agriculture and science, became an engineering powerhouse, the nation’s leader in National Science Foundation (NSF) funding, and an acknowledged leader in interdisciplinary and convergent research that spans the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Energy (DOE), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Department of Defense (DOD). She will highlight how the university’s research enterprise pivots to new opportunities and challenges, including tackling COVID-19, and showcase some of the ways that the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation helps researchers respond to emerging issues for global impact. And she will look to a bright future where industry, academia, and communities partner in unique ways to support economic development and quality of life for people around the world.

Bio: Susan Martinis is Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she provides leadership for the campus-wide interdisciplinary research institutes, promotes new research initiatives, and oversees the administrative and business processes that ensure the safe, ethical, and productive conduct of research at Illinois.

Dr. Martinis, the Stephen G. Sligar Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Professor of Biochemistry, studies the mechanisms, evolution, and biomedical applications of protein synthesis and RNA-protein interactions. She is a successful researcher, engaged in entrepreneurial activities and corporate partnerships; a committed educator; and an experienced administrator.