Have you demonstrated outstanding leadership as a grad student? Gain recognition for your exemplary service to the campus or wider communities! Winners will receive $500 in professional development funds and be featured in a special video during Graduate Student Appreciation Week (October 9-14) to celebrate their accomplishments. Learn more about the application requirements and apply on our website.

Aug. 3 is the last day to add/drop (with a "W") a SF (12 wk), POT 1 Ind Study, S2 (8 wk), or S2B (4 wk) course (via Student Portal, dept approval req.); and the last day to withdraw from ALL courses for these terms if not also registered for S1 or S2A (prior 4 wk sessions) with “W's” recorded (form, dept approval required; ISSS approval required for intnl students). Forms must be submitted by 5pm Reading Day, Aug 3. Students in non-standard part of term courses should refer to their program for deadlines. Questions about deadlines or submitting a form? Click here for an advising appointment!

Friendship bracelets are a fun way for friends to show how much they mean to each other. Traditionally, close friends will create a bracelet for each other and present it to them as a gift. Making friendship bracelets can also be a great way to practice self-care and explore your creativity - you can even make one for yourself!  Lunch is provided. Paid for by the Student Cultural Programming Fee (SCPF).    

This spring, the Thesis Office deposited 267 doctoral dissertations and 109 master's theses. Congratulations to all of our graduates! We are so proud of you and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Register now for Faculty Job Search Retreat! This afternoon event will get you ready to apply for faculty jobs this fall. It will feature an introduction to the faculty job search process, a faculty panel, and a hands-on cover letter workshop that will take you behind the scenes of faculty hiring. In-person seats are full, but you can still attend this hybrid event online. Learn more and register on our website.

The Writers Workshop will review genre expectations for research statements and provide examples from a range of disciplines. We will share strategies for drafting and tailoring your own research statements. This event will be held through Zoom. It is open to current University of Illinois affiliates (students, faculty, and staff). Please register with your University of Illinois email account by 11:59pm CT on July 31, and we will send a reminder email with the Zoom meeting invitation on the morning of the event.

The Foster and Brown Postdoctoral Fellowships at LLNL enable postdoctoral candidates to pursue creative and independent ground-breaking research in any aspect of science and engineering that supports LLNL’s national security mission. Fellows participate in experimental, computational, and/or theoretical work, and have access to LLNL’s extensive high-performance computing facilities, talent pool, specialized laboratory facilities, and field equipment to take their research to the next level and solve the nation’s most pressing national security challenges.

Join us for the final summer sessions of our hybrid writing group! These sessions provide graduate students with dedicated time to make progress on thesis or dissertation writing in a supportive atmosphere. Each meeting consists of a short goal-setting conversation, quiet writing time, and a concluding reflection and wrap-up. Use this time to create or return to a writing routine, make progress and meet deadlines on long-term projects, or jump-start a new writing project. Please register with your UofI email.

During the week-long retreat, you’ll benefit by establishing a regular and sustainable writing habit, becoming more aware of your own writing processes, setting and reflecting on writing goals, and refining your revision strategies. Each day, you'll have time to work independently on your writing as well as to participate in optional afternoon workshops about common concerns that arise during long-term writing projects, such as maintaining momentum, asking for and using feedback, and finding work-life balance. This event is open to U of I affiliates. Please register in advance.

Join us at Hessel Park where kids can play and adults can meet other folks who are parenting while pursuing degrees. We'll have snacks for kids and adults, as well as bubbles and sidewalk chalk. 

Are you interested in sharing your research and building science communication skills? Consider joining the Community Seminar Series, a program that gives graduate students and postdocs an opportunity to share their health-related research with the public. We are currently recruiting presenters for Fall 2023. Presenters will be responsible for delivering one webinar and will work closely with Extension mentors to develop, practice, and deliver their webinar. Webinars will be hosted on Wednesdays from noon - 1 p.m. CT beginning October 4th. Please reach out to mmw3@illinois.edu to participate. 

Do you want to meet other graduate students? Do you want to learn valuable skills for adjusting to graduate school? Do you want free food on Thursday nights? This by-students for-students workshop series seeks to connect first year graduate students with each other and introduce them to resources to help them thrive in the transition to graduate school. RSVP for updates at this link if interested. The first workshop will be a student panel on Setting Boundaries and Expectations. Funded by the Institute of Genomic Biology's DEI task force.

Continuous medication use has been linked with poor long-term care outcomes, particularly when misused and overprescribed. Learn how prescribing pain medication after discharge has inflated medication usage and explore the rise of non-prescription drugs since the beginning of the pandemic. Presenter: Erica Noel