Upcoming Events

Application Deadline: Obermann Interdisciplinary Research Grants (Summer 2027) promotional image

Application Deadline: Obermann Interdisciplinary Research Grants (Summer 2027)

Wednesday, October 7, 2026 5:00pm
111 Church Street

Obermann Interdisciplinary Research Grants (IDRG) foster collaborative scholarship and creative work by offering recipients time and space to exchange new ideas leading to invention, creation, and publication. IDRG groups work at the Obermann Center for two weeks, usually in July and/or August. Applicants propose work on a project with colleagues from across the University, across disciplines within their own department, or with colleagues from other parts of the country or the world. Projects...

Application Deadline: Obermann Symposium Directorship (2027–28) promotional image

Application Deadline: Obermann Symposium Directorship (2027–28)

Wednesday, October 28, 2026 5:00pm
111 Church Street

Is there a burning topic in your discipline or a topic that cuts across disciplines that we should bring to campus? Is there a format for the conversation that can energize an intellectual community around that topic? That might be the perfect topic for an Obermann Symposium!

In addition to a compelling topic, we invite co-directors to propose national and international speakers who can offer richly diverse perspectives on the symposium theme. We also want to highlight the work of UI and local...

Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Seminar promotional image

Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Seminar

Wednesday, January 13, 2027 1:00pm to 5:00pm
Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)

The Research Development Office is hosting an in-person grant writing seminar, Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, that will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 13 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday, Jan. 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the IMU. The seminar is presented by AtKisson Training Group.

This seminar will cover fundamental concepts of proposal planning and writing for the Arts and Humanities faculty backed by concrete...

Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Seminar promotional image

Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities Seminar

Thursday, January 14, 2027 8:30am to 12:30pm
Iowa Memorial Union (IMU)

The Research Development Office is hosting an in-person grant writing seminar, Planning and Writing Successful Grant Proposals in the Creative Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, that will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 13 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday, Jan. 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the IMU. The seminar is presented by AtKisson Training Group.

This seminar will cover fundamental concepts of proposal planning and writing for the Arts and Humanities faculty backed by concrete...

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News

Research group meeting in upstairs Obermann office

Variants of Uncertain Significance

Monday, August 17, 2026
“I suppose what’s always speaking to me in the back of my mind is my mother,” says Benjamin Darbro. “She’s really the one who inspired this problem solving.” My question to University of Iowa professors John Manak, of the Department of Biology (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences) and Darbro, of the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics (Carver College of Medicine), was about the nature of their work. What is your relationship to complexity?
headshot dempsey

Meet Reid Dempsey

Thursday, August 13, 2026
Hi, Reid! You’re the new program coordinator at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies (OCAS). Can you explain your role? Hi! Certainly. It’s a blend of responsibilities, but mostly communications support. I help with interviews, social media, outreach, and recordkeeping. I’m also learning from the Obermann staff—Jenna, Erin, Amy, and Luis—how an organism like OCAS supports research and intellectual life inside and outside the University of Iowa. Their combined experience and skill set can be a little dazzling, and the work feels special. Not every school has something like the Obermann Center on campus, dedicated to sharing resources, building networks, and thinking about the best ways to make things happen.
Bella Spilotro

Behind the Zines: Learning from Artists at Public Space One

Thursday, July 30, 2026
This summer, I had the pleasure of interning at Public Space One (PS1), an artist-led, community-driven contemporary art center, for eight weeks as a student intern supporting grant administration, research, documentation, and publication development for the multi-year Alongside/Banned but Not Silenced project.
Gregg Johnson standing outside of the public library

Iowa Library Advocacy: An American Consultant’s Case Study

Monday, July 27, 2026
This summer I've had the privilege of working with the Development Director of the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation (ICPLFF), Katie Roche. As a Government Affairs and Advocacy Intern, I've relished the opportunity the Obermann Center granted to expand my professional horizons beyond academia and to translate that experience directly into future industry opportunities.

Featured Programs

AI + Care @ Iowa symposium banner

AI + Care @ Iowa: Challenge and Promise

2027 Obermann Symposium

Directed by Kenneth Nepple (Department of Urology), Jason Misurac (Department of Pediatrics), and Weiguo Patrick Fan (Department of Business Analytics), this symposium builds on the University of Iowa Health Care’s deployment of AI to engage the issue of care in all its dimensions. Practitioners and researchers from different disciplines will address issues from the cancer rate in Iowa and healthcare provider burnout to the values underlying different approaches to caring for others and the self. The event will facilitate interdisciplinary discussions between professionals in medicine, business analytics, humanities, law, the arts, software engineering, journalism, social sciences, education, and more. Our goal is that the symposium will bridge these perspectives to look productively at an issue that generates both trepidation and hope.

The symposium takes place April 1 and 2, 2027.

international flags on UI campus bridge

Spring 2027 Obermann International Fellowships

Application period open

We offer flexible fellowships for international researchers and artists to develop collaborations and pursue independent work at our beautiful Iowa City campus. International Fellows will receive a $3,000 stipend to help defray the cost of travel and lodging; University of Iowa health insurance coverage for the duration of the fellowship; office space at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies; temporary University of Iowa affiliation, including access to UI libraries; and structured opportunities for scholarly exchange.

Applications for Spring 2027 fellowships are due September 18, 2026.

Butterflies coming out of a book

Book Ends: Book Completion Workshop

Application period open

This program supports University of Iowa faculty from disciplines in which publishing a monograph is required for tenure and promotion. The award is designed to assist faculty members turn promising manuscripts into important, field-changing, published books. Book Ends brings together a panel of senior scholars for a candid, constructive three-hour workshop on a faculty member’s book manuscript. The award provides a $500 honorarium for two external senior scholars ($500 for each). We will also ask one University of Iowa senior faculty member to participate.