Over the past decade, single-cell genomics has advanced at an unprecedented pace, fundamentally reshaping the way biological questions are formulated and addressed. The ability to interrogate individual cells has revealed gene expression dynamics and cellular heterogeneity that are often obscured in bulk tissue analyses. As technologies now enable the simultaneous profiling of millions of cells, the field faces new challenges related to experimental design, error and bias mitigation, and the analysis and interpretation of increasingly large and complex datasets.

This symposium aims to bring together UMN single-cell researchers to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. The program will feature in-depth presentations from experts specializing in transplant immunology and avian reproductive physiology; updates on emerging informatics strategies and single-cell platforms; a Lightning Talk Competition highlighting challenges and lessons learned; and a guided tour of the UMGC CoLab facility, which provides training resources in single-cell workflows.

Join us for the 17th Annual Research Computing Exhibition on Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Coffman Memorial Union (new venue!). Everyone is welcome! 

Date and Location:

• Thursday, April 23, 2026
• 10:30 am - 4:00 pm
• Coffman Memorial Union: Mississippi Room, Presidents Room, Room 303

Wednesday, October 29, 2025
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
President's Room, Coffman Memorial Union
Zoom also available

Presented by Dr. Christopher S. Simmons of Cambridge Computer.

Friday, October 3, 2025
9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Cancer and Cardiovascual Research Building

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the University of Minnesota Genomics Center. For a quarter century, the UMGC has provided cutting-edge technologies, training, and services to advance discovery at the University of Minnesota and beyond.

As we look back on the growth of genomics over the past 25 years - and ahead to the emerging technologies that will shape the future of genomics - we invite you to join us in marking this milestone. GenoFest will feature presentations from leaders in the field, updates on the latest sequencing and multi-omic platforms, tours of the UMGC and CoLab, posters, exhibitor tables, and opportunities to connect with fellow researchers.

Researchers and collaborators interested in genomics technologies and UMGC’s resources are encouraged to attend.

Events include technical talks, a reception featuring light refreshments, guided tours of the UMGC, and opportunities to connect with colleagues, vendors, and campus partners at the Genomics Resource Fair. MSI will have a table at the Resource Fair.

Monday, November 3, 2025
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
McNamara Alumni Center

The Women in AI & Data Science (WiADS) Conference 2025 is an opportunity for women, women-identifying, and non-binary professionals, academics, and students to share their research, projects, and stories. Your voice has the power to inspire, to lead, and to spark change for the next generation of data scientists and AI innovators. Whether as an attendee or a speaker, this is your chance to share your expertise, research, or innovative projects with a diverse community shaping the future of AI and data science.

This event is sponsored by the Data Science and AI Hub.

Important dates:

• Deadline for abstracts: September 15, 2025
• Deadline for in-person registration: October 20, 2025 or when event reaches capacity
• Deadline for virtual registration: October 31, 2025

Wednesday, September 17, 2025
3:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union

GeoCommunities maps centers and institutes while linking people through their ecosystems to co-create sustainable, equitable, and resilient solutions rooted in place but designed for global impact. We have created a knowledge map of the research centers and institutes at the University of Minnesota. Find yourself on the map, connect with colleagues doing work related to your own, and hear from faculty tackling wicked problems, from water and waste to climate and communities. Whether you’re exploring new ideas or advancing ongoing work, join us in building a university-wide network committed to real-world change.

Event Highlights:

• Opening remarks from Kim Kirkpatrick, AVP Research Innovation Office, and Tom Fisher, Director GeoCommunities
• Presentations and discussions on Seed Grant projects
• Networking opportunities with center directors and faculty doing related work
• Group discussions and feedback on the center ecosystem maps
• Next step on how to build GeoCommunities

Friday, September 19, 2025
9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The Graduate Hotel Minneapolis

The 10X Genomics User Group Meeting (UGM) is a one-day event intended for those who want to learn about the latest single cell and spatial multiomic solutions and to see how these platforms help researchers push the boundaries of discovery. The program will include opportunities to engage with your peers and your local 10x team, hear about the latest work of local investigators that are at the forefront of their fields, and learn about our upcoming Pilot Award Program. Our Vice President of Biology R&D Peter Smibert, PhD, will provide an update on our newest solutions and technologies. 

MSI Informatics and University of Minnesota Genomics Center representatives will be present at the event. 

Thursday, November 20, 2025
1 - 5:30 p.m.
Research Collaboration Studio, Wilson Library

The Spatial Forum is an annual event highlighting spatial research, teaching, and outreach at the University of Minnesota. This event is free and open to the public. It includes lightning talks, exhibitor booths, and keynote presentation. 

2025 Borchert Lecture Speaker

Janet Franklin, Endowed Campanile Foundation Professor of Geography at the Center for Open Geospatial Sciences, San Diego State University, will deliver the 19th annual Borchert Lecture.

Tuesday, June 3, 2025
8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
1-125 CCRB

The field of single-cell genomics has progressed rapidly over the last 10 years and has changed the way we ask and answer biological questions. The ability to interrogate individual cells is revealing gene expression dynamics and cellular heterogeneity otherwise masked in bulk analysis. With the profiling of millions of cells in parallel, challenges arise in the experimental setup, the ability to limit errors and biases, and the analysis of vast quantities of data. 

The UMN Single Cell Symposium 2025 aims to bring together UMN investigators interested in single-cell methodologies to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. The symposium is co-organized by the University of Minnesota Genomics Center (UMGC) and MSI. Topics to be covered include:

• Single-cell genomics in immunology research
• Single-cell genomics in pulmonary research
• Single-cell genomics in neuroscience
• Single-cell informatics
• Single-cell technologies

Complete information about the event, including the agenda and registration link, is found on the UMGC website.

Our 2025 Research Computing Exhibition was held on Thursday, April 24, 2025 in Walter Library. Everyone is welcome! Light refreshments will be served.

Date, time, location:

• Thursday, April 24, 2025, 10:30 am - 4 pm
• 4th and 5th floors, Walter Library

Thank you to our sponsors!

• PIER Group in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise
• VAST Data

Representatives from the sponsor companies will be available during the event to talk to attendees.

Activities:

Doors open at 10:30 a.m.

• 10:45 - Welcome and presentation: Funding Opportunities with Research Computing; Dr. Jim Wilgenbush, Director, Research Computing; room 402
• 11:00 - Panel discussion: Employment in Research Computing; room 402
  • This panel will consist of representatives from high-performance computing companies, MSI, and U of M IT
  • The discussion will be most valuable for grad students and post-docs, but anyone can attend
• Presentations; room 402:
  • 12:00 - Futures: AI at the University of Minnesota; Dr. Jim Wilgenbush, Director, Research Computing
  • 12:15 - Futures: The Next 10 Years at the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute; Dr. Ben Lynch, Director, MSI
  • 12:45 - Futures: Sustainable GeoCommunities at U of M; Tom Fisher, Director, Sustainable GeoCommunities
  • 1:30 - Data Science Initiative Lightning Talks
    • 1:30 - How can large-scale ecological datasets help us understand the relationship between small mammal biodiversity and tick-borne disease?; Chris Wojan
    • 1:45 - Genetic interaction-based machine learning models for disease risk prediction; Mathew Fischbach
    • 2:00 - Non-destructive potato petiole nitrate-nitrogen prediction using chlorophyll meter and multi-source data fusion with machine learning; Seiya Wakahara
    • 2:15 - SWIF-TE: Identifying transposable element insertions from short-read data; Claire Menard
    • 2:30 - From time series to topology: Validating computational tools for mapping neural networks; Kate Dembny
• 1:00 - 3:15 - Poster session by users of Research Computing resources; 5th floor
  • Group A - 1:00 - 1:45
  • Group B - 1:45 - 2:30
  • Group C - 2:30 - 3:15
  • Award Ceremony - 3:30, room 402
• Tours of MSI's machine room; meet in 4th floor elevator bay
  • 11:15
  • 12:45
  • 2:15

The Design of Medical Devices Conference 2025 will be held April 28 - 30, 2025. The conference is part of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine's Innovation Week. It will be held in the Graduate by Hilton Hotel, Minneapolis and the McNamara Alumni Center on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota.

Registration is open. See the DMD Conference website for complete information.

Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Time: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM CT
Location: McNamara Alumni Center at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN and online
Register

This full-day event offers industry, academia, and emerging businesses a unique opportunity to gain insights into DARPA through engaging sessions led by DARPA office directors, program managers, and staff. You will be equipped with tools and knowledge on how to successfully engage with DARPA.

Whether you’re new to DARPA or a seasoned performer with the agency, this event will provide valuable insights on "How to DARPA" with its dynamic and visionary leadership, and offer networking opportunities to help advance your efforts in national security innovation.

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore how your research could align with DARPA’s mission to serve the warfighter and help develop groundbreaking technologies in areas such as AI, biotechnology, advanced materials, and more.

This is your chance to engage with DARPA and shape the future of national security innovation.

This event is co-sponsored by the Research and Innovation Office. 

This virtual conference is sponsored by the Research and Innovation Office; the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment, and the Life Sciences; the Masonic Cancer Center; and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. It is part of the 2025 Research Ethics Week.

Researchers across many disciplines are increasingly utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), including large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, to support empirical research and data analysis, academic writing, peer review, and development of new tools. The broad reach of AI in research raises pressing ethical questions about scientific integrity, authorship, data privacy, bias, and equity. Related issues include how trainees and students should be instructed to use and acknowledge the use of AI tools in their research. Ethical guidance from research institutions, professional organizations, journals, and governmental oversight authorities is only beginning to emerge, and ethical oversight of AI in research also remains in flux.

This conference will bring together leading experts from a range of disciplines, from biomedical sciences to the humanities, to confront the challenge of ethical use of AI in research. National leaders will discuss how AI is being used in research, the challenges to research ethics and integrity, current guidance on using AI in research and publication, including how to address concerns that training sets for LLMs may not be sufficiently representative, leading to biased models. Speakers will also debate how LLMs should be used in academic writing and peer review, and how students should use these tools. The conference will consider when and how researchers should seek informed consent to use of AI in research protocols, and how IRBs can effectively provide oversight for research with AI tools. The conference will offer recommendations for researchers, students, administrators, and IRB professionals on how to ensure ethical use of AI in research.

• Wednesday, March 5, 2025

• 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. CST

• Online via Zoom

Complete information and registration

Unlock the power of R and learn the skills to handle tedious, complex, and repetitive data tasks with ease. Why waste hours copying and pasting data in Excel just to reformat it? Dive into practical techniques like indexing and logical tests through real-world data management exercises. Conquer your fear of the infamous “for loop” by breaking down its structure and syntax into simple steps. Use vectorized operations and functions in R to work smarter, not harder!

Date:
Tuesday, March 4, 2025; 1 - 2:30 p.m.
Location:
Zoom

Click here to register.

This workshop revolves around the packages in the so-called “tidyverse”—a suite array of R packages containing extremely useful tools that are all designed to look similar and work well together. Many of these tools allow you to do operations more efficiently, clearly, or quickly than you can in “base R.” As such, most things we’ll do in these lessons can be done in “base R” too, but it won’t (typically) be as efficient, clear, or fast!

Date:
Tuesday, February 25, 2025; 1 - 4 p.m.
Location:
Online

Click here to register.