Indigenous Peoples' Day is a campus-wide celebration that begins on Sunday, October 8th through Monday, October 9th. Many units at our institution have collaborated this year, events will be spread out across campus. Visit this link for the full schedule of events, we look forward to seeing you participate!

We're excited to recognize graduate students and highlight your contributions to the campus and community next week! We've got a full schedule on our website, but here's a few highlights: check out our kickoff event at Anniversary Plaza on Monday, or this student parent meet-up on Tuesday! There's an opportunity for a free professional headshot and this celebration of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion on Wednesday, and this online game night on Thursday. 

Our new GradLIFE series explores how graduate students at Illinois are working with, thinking about, and exploring the emerging world of generative AI. In our first post, we hear from Illinois grad students about how they're integrating new AI technologies into their day-to-day work. Our second post highlights students' opinions on the complex conversations these new technologies are stimulating. 

Illini Wellness Week from Student Affairs highlights campus resources that are available to you, and will help enhance your wellbeing. The week will kickoff with a resource fair at the ARC from 4-6pm on Monday, Oct. 9. There are several events and programs happening every day! Check out the complete schedule. Each day of the week, take Your Wellness Journey and explore offices to see what is available to you on a daily basis. The first 25 students to check in each day, receive a FREE swag bag! 

Sign up for 6v6 Volleyball, Basketball, Indoor Soccer, and Billiards Intramural Leagues through Campus Rec October 4 - 18. Sign up with a team or register as a free agent. Games run October 22 - November 30.

There is still time to register for the system-wide Student & Employee Mental Health and Well-being event, "Resilience, Resistance & Roaring: Integrating Belonging, Social Justice & Well-Being Into Our Educational Mission," on Wed., Oct. 11, from 1:30-3:30pm CST, free via Zoom. This event represents a pivotal moment in our shared commitment to prioritize the well-being of our university communities. This event is free. 

Come join us to show our appreciation for graduate students at the University of Illinois, with interactive activities and an appreciation dinner!   

LabEscape brings you the final and most exciting chapter in the story of renowned quantum physicist Professor S. LabEscape is the world's only science-based "escape room"! Absolutely NO science background is necessary to succeed. This chapter features a unique set of awesome puzzles and challenges. Cost is $8 for students and $12 for nonstudents, and is perfect for a fun team-building activity!

Student Affairs will hold a Mental Health Wellness Fair, featuring university departments, academic programs, and student organizations that have a special interest in and services available to enhance the mental health of students. Come learn about all the services available to you in support of your mental well-being throughout your educational career. There will be free giveaways and refreshments.

Your graduate level tuition & service fee waivers may be taxable. Graduate level tuition & service fee waivers that are a benefit of employment are considered taxable income by the IRS. As a result, GA’s, PGA’s, & regular employees may see a reduction in take-home pay for the months of October, November & possibly December. Learn more on the Student Money Management Center website. 

Everyone can be a victim of a scam, but international students are often an easy target. This presentation will expand your knowledge about how to spot and protect yourself from a scam, and also what should you do if you suspect that you were a victim. 

University of Illinois System Student Money Management Center and Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation have partnered on a series of webinars to address student loan repayment. Register for the Student Loan Updates webinar series to view webinars on different topics each month between July 2023 - March 2024. All federal student loan borrowers welcome. Topics covered so far include (1) FSA Dashboard, (2) Loan Simulator, and (3) Consolidation vs Refinancing.

The Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) recognizes outstanding scholarship at the master's level through its Distinguished Master's Thesis Award. This year's competition targets two areas: biological/life sciences and humanities/fine arts. The master's degree must have been conferred between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2023, and the thesis must have made an unusually significant contribution to the discipline. Awardees receive $750 plus a paid trip to the MAGS annual meeting in St. Louis in April. The Graduate College welcomes departmental nominations, which are due by October 19.

The ability to craft an effective funding proposal can reap a lifetime of rewards. As a graduate student, now is the time to hone your grantwriting proficiency. In this workshop, designed for students in science, technology, engineering, and math, you will learn how to identify funding opportunities, strategize the components of an effective proposal, and think like a grant writer. Come with questions about this mysterious genre; leave with a template that you can adapt to become a competitive applicant for prestigious awards. Register here.

Interested graduate students are encouraged to apply by November 15, 2023 for the third Interseminars initative project “Collisions across Colorlines: Reconsidering Racism, Movements, and Epistemes in the Americas,” which is an invitation to work collectively in a critical interrogation of deeply embedded intersecting structures of race and inequality and how they periodically erupt in the Americas, if not the globe. An info session will be held on Zoom on October 9 at 4:00 p.m. Register to attend the Zoom session.

Graduate students: attend this information session to learn more about HRI's Campus Fellowships program and to ask questions in preparation for the December 1, 2023 deadline.

What are the five most common formatting errors we see in theses? What are release options? How do I deposit my thesis? We've answered these questions and more in our Thesis Format and Deposit webinar. Watch the video and download the slides in our Box folder. Still have questions? Reach out to us at thesis@illinois.edu.

For support on your presentation skills in preparation for an oral defense or conference, check out this 7-week course, ESL 593 Academic Presentation Skills, designed to offer individualized feedback on your presentation style and provide you with authentic opportunities to practice. With the aim of creating and delivering compelling and professional presentations, students will practice orally explaining their research, adapting to different audiences, and giving and receiving feedback. REGISTER NOW! Classes begin on October 17. Seating is limited.

This online workshop with Q+A is geared towards grad students and early-career scholars. Our two speakers – Faith Wilson Stein, Senior Acquisitions Editor at Northwestern University Press, and Colleen Lucey, Professor and author of Love for Sale: Representing Prostitution in Imperial Russia (2021) – will discuss book proposals, timelines, tips for reworking the dissertation, and more.  

You know that a strong network can help you advance in your career. But using LinkedIn for networking can make you feel uncertain and awkward at times. In this workshop, Mike Firmand from Career and Professional Development will help you to learn strategies for using LinkedIn for your professional success. You will learn about some basics to using LinkedIn, how to find people, strategies for making first contact, and how to maintain your connection with them over time.

Many international graduate students and postdocs will secure full-time employment in the United States. Find out what you need to know about U.S. immigration policies to make a smooth transition. This presentation will discuss the H-1B petition process for full-time hires and options for permanent residence in the U.S. The speaker is Thomas Arkell, an attorney practicing immigration and employment law. No registration required. This workshop will be held in person AND simultaneously broadcast online. Click here to join the workshop remotely.

Join a collaborative group that will help you figure out what matters to you and offer support as you explore new paths that align with your values, skills, and interests. This 3-week group will involve hands-on exercises and rich conversation designed to guide you in claiming agency about your next steps. Open to grad students and postdocs in any field whose work involves humanistic inquiry. Learn more and register here.

Attendees will become familiar with the differences between a dissertation and first book manuscript, and will further learn about identifying points of revision, creating a revision plan/timeline, approaching editors/presses, writing a book proposal, and the publishing process at a glance.

Navigating the intricacies of law is essential for researchers across various academic disciplines. Whether you're a student, a scholar, or simply someone interested in a policy issue, understanding how to locate federal and state court decisions, statutes, regulations, and interpretive legal sources is crucial. Join this Savvy Researcher workshop to learn how to locate federal and state bills, statutes, regulations, and court decisions, along with invaluable insights into the formation of laws.

The peer review process was implemented in scholarly journals since the middle of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century to improve the quality and select manuscripts for publication. However, do you know why it started to be applied in scholarly journals and its several contexts of implementation? This workshop will give you an overview of the history of peer review, the role of authors, reviewers, and authors, types of peer review models, their pros and cons, and patterns of evaluation in different disciplines.

New to the university? Need a refresher on using the library? This hands-on workshop will introduce you to library resources and services. After this workshop, you’ll be able to navigate the library website with confidence to access print and electronic materials. Come with questions if you have them!

Infographics can be an effective way to convey small bits of information very quickly, while drawing viewers in due to their visual appeal. In this workshop students will learn about best practices for creating infographics, and be introduced to several free online tools that allow users to create their own infographics, including: Piktochart, Infogr.am, and Visme. The session will end with a practice activity where participants are encouraged to use the webtool of their choice. 

In this workshop, you will learn the basics of Illinois REDCap and how it can be used for the collection of research data, including how to create projects, instruments, and surveys and how to start collecting research data. It is recommended (but not required) that you have a REDCap account prior to attending the workshop. Information about accessing Illinois REDCap is available here. No prior REDCap experience is necessary.

Looking for a new way to conduct your library research? Tired of getting zero results in your database searches? This workshop will break down how the professionals identify resources, and search for articles, books, and other scholarly works. We’ll cover chasing citations, creating optimal keyword searches, using built-in database functions to improve your searches, and other strategies to make you a more efficient researcher.

Create the "write" habit! Our hybrid writing group provides 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. You only need to register once with your U of I email to receive weekly email reminders all semester!

Join us to learn how ICPSR can help you reach your research, education, and teaching goals. Through ICPSR you have access to research data from over 18,000 studies representing the arts, criminal justice, education, health and health care, and other topics of interest in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences. In this webinar, you will learn search strategies for finding the data you need and be introduced to additional resources available for using data in teaching as well as meeting data sharing requirements. We'll cover data highlights, training, scholarships and more.

Considering NVivo for your qualitative or mixed-methods project? Join this workshop for an overview of the capabilities of NVivo for analyzing text, media, and survey data. Attend online or in-person in Library 314.  

What can we learn from our students' emotional responses to the writing assignments we give them? How can we use that knowledge to support our students' self-efficacy? The Program in Professional Writing and the Siebel Center for Design will help answer these questions, and more, in a professional development session on Friday 10/20 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Siebel Center for Design (Rm 1040). You'll explore how emotion and learning are connected, practice perspective taking to understand students' emotional responses, and how to respond to them to further learning. Open to all instructors.

This tutorial, offered by QuEra Computing Inc., will have two sessions. The first, on 10/18, will present an overview of neutral-atoms-based quantum computers. The second, on 10/23, will be hands-on and teach the fundamentals of how to use Bloqade to solve quantum simulations and optimization problems. To register by 10/16 and to find more info, use the link in the title.

Attn Grad Students: Could your research benefit from an undergraduate mentee? Share your Spring research opportunities, be they paid or for credit (e.g., independent study), in our November Undergraduate Student Newsletter. Reach a diverse student audience and recruit a highly motivated undergraduate student! Please submit your opportunity by October 26 at: https://go.illinois.edu/submitopportunity.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and in celebration we are seeking originality in a haiku that helps the university community understand phishing or other cybersecurity topics. You can submit an original haiku or one generated with AI assistance using this form: https://go.uillinois.edu/haiku. 

What sidewalk, bike path, street, crosswalk, and bus stop improvements are needed along Lincoln Ave., from Green St. to Florida Ave.? The Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study (CUUATS) is hosting a Lincoln Avenue Corridor Study Open House on Oct. 10 (4 p.m.) to review existing conditions and identify future infrastructure upgrades and safety enhancements for the 1.2 mile stretch. These planning efforts will strive to balance all transportation modes for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and drivers by addressing existing high-traffic areas and multimodal conflict spots.

The 22nd Women’s and Gender History Symposium at the UIUC seeks graduate student papers aligned with this year’s theme, Gender Taking Place. We seek papers that explore the ways spatial, material, and environmental conditions shape and are shaped by gendered social practices. Submit an abstract (200-300 words) and CV to wghs.uiuc@gmail.com by November 30th at 5pm CT. For the full Call for Papers and details about the symposium, visit our website.

Apply for an immediate opening as an Illini Science Policy Program Scholar with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. You will focus on key agenda items of agricultural equity, food insecurity, and educational equity. Hybrid placement with 3-days in the Chicago office and 2 days remote. Email the contact below for more information.

Gene Machine combines science and music for an evening to thrill the mind and soul. This unique event features a conversation between Nobel Prize laureate Venki Ramakrishnan and members of the University of Illinois scientific community, along with musical performances by his son, renowned cellist Raman Ramakrishnan, and concert pianist and conductor Benjamin Hochman.

This concert features the historic work Steps in the Street (from Chronicle) by modern dance pioneer, Martha Graham and work from current professors and students; Nawal Assougdam, Professor Cynthia Oliver, Assistant Head Anna Sapozhnikov, and Assistant Professor Alexandra Barbier.

This group will commit to a weekly, year-round deep dive into William Gaddis' modernist epic "The Recognitions", and critical writings thereon. In the league of "Ulysses" and "Infinite Jest", "The Recognitions" concerns a conspiracy to forge early Flemish paintings, amidst a broad fictional universe of simulacra in which any sense of authenticity is pulverized. This is a unique, ambitious interdisciplinary opportunity for humanities students to reckon with art crime from an erudite literary perspective at once challenging and entertaining. Email Alec if interested. Dates and times TBD.

Dance at Illinois will present October Dance 2023, October 12-14 at 7:30pm at the Tryon Festival Theatre at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are available online at krannertcenter.com. October Dance 2023 features the historic work, Steps in the Street (from Chronicles) by Modern Dance pioneer Martha Graham. Also on the program, premieres by Dance at Illinois faculty, Cynthia Oliver, Alexandra Barbier, Anna Sapozhnikov and undergraduate BA major, Nawal Assougdam. 

Join the CGS team for another Fall Event Series where Dr. Jim Best will give their lecture, "The Future of the World’s Great Rivers: Anthropogenic Stresses, Impacts and Possible Solutions." This talk will review the wide range of anthropogenic stresses affecting the world’s large rivers and discuss their impact on the physical and human landscapes on which they are situated.

The Democracy Summit keynote lecture by Professor Daniel Ziblatt is Monday, October 23rd at Spurlock Museum.  Books will be available for purchase and signing at 6pm in Spurlock Museum Auditorium.  Daniel Ziblatt is Eaton Professor of Government at Harvard University, New York Times bestseller and winner of the American Political Science Association's 2018 Woodrow Wilson Prize for the best book in government and international relations. Registration at go.illinois.edu/democracysummit is appreciated.

Please join us for the University Archives' monthly Women in Science Lecture Series on October 12 from 12 -1 pm. Dr. Donna J. Cox, Michael Aiken Chair Emerita and Professor Emerita of Art & Design, will share her career as the former Director of the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and her research on scientific visualizations. This is a hybrid event and will take place in the University Archives, Main Library 146 or you can register for the zoom link at https://go.illinois.edu/WomenInScienceOct23

Join us for a lecture by Mayra Saenz, PhD Candidate in Agricultural and Consumer Economics. She will investigate the impact of institutional factors on upward intergenerational transfers from adult children to their older parents. Her study aims to answer whether public health insurance programs influence the financial and non-financial support older adults receive from their children. Please register here. Lunch is included with registration.

Join HRI for an evening talk/performance featuring Damon Locks (Chicago-based artist, educator, musician and leader of the Black Monument Ensemble) and Tara Aisha Willis (Curator in Performance & Public Practice, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago). This event is part of the Interseminars series for "Improvise and Intervene," supported by the Mellon Foundation.

Join us for a talk by Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan, Nobel Prize laureate and Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, United Kingdom, entitled “My Adventures in the Ribosome.”

Saxophonist Eddie Barbash and the KASA Quartet unite to breathe new life into the timeless tradition of jazz with strings. The joyous improvisation and swing of Eddie's jazz quartet combine with the lush sound of the KASA Quartet to bring you the best of both worlds: an octet that may make you shout with joy or bring you to tears.

Ain Gordon as writer/director/performer and Josh Quillen as composer/performer with dramaturgy by Talvin Wilks and lighting design by Jennifer Tipton. Relics… frames a story from Quillen’s Ohio family: their 3-year odyssey following his father Jerry’s 2006 ALS diagnosis. 

Illinois researchers are invited to an interactive workshop aimed to deepen their understanding of power analysis, enhance the quality and reliability of their research, and better position them to submit successful research proposals. During the workshop, participants will engage in hands-on exercises using real-life data sets. New registrants will be on Zoom as the in-person option is full.

How might community service and volunteering subtly (and not-so-subtly) promote racism? Join We CU on Tuesday, October 10, at 5:30 pm for a workshop on combatting racism in service learning. We will discuss how systemic racism comes up in our lives and in our service work. We will also talk about how we can critically examine biases and center the voices and experiences of the communities we are serving. This training will also help you develop strategies for promoting anti-racism in your own volunteer and service work. Dinner will be served. Space is limited, so register today!

Sign up by Oct. 10 for the Illinois Green Infrastructure & Erosion Control Conference, Oct. 24 at I Hotel & Conference Center. This one-day in-person conference will bring together designers, contractors, students, and staff to explore and advance the use of stormwater erosion control and green infrastructure in municipal management. Lunch, breakfast will be offered and 5 PDH/CEU hours available.

Looking for a sustainable way to shop? Check out the campus Clothing Swap on Wednesday, Oct. 11, sponsored by iSEE, Students for Environmental Concerns, and the Student Sustainability Leadership Council. Donate your gently used clothes and shop for items donated by others — for free! This event takes place during Green Quad Day on the Main Quad. Donated clothes can be dropped off between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 9-10, at the Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon St., Urbana.

October is Sustainability Month, and iSEE invites you to join our month-long Sustainable Habits Challenge! We are asking our community to take individual steps at home, at work, and on campus to reduce consumption and live a more sustainable life. You can get weekly tips and track your progress — and you might win a sustainability prize pack! Check out events throughout October on our at the link above!

In Myanmar’s first and only country-wide environmental movement, Indigenous women activists and punk rock pastors defend a sacred river from a Chinese-built megadam through protest, prayer, and Karaoke music videos. Presented in partnership with GETSEA and 20 participating universities. Post-screening zoom discussion with director Emily Hong and producer Maggie Lemere (MYANMAR/USA/THAILAND. 86 min. Jinghpaw/Burmese w/ English subtitles.)

Looking for a quiet place to work that is not the library or your room? Come by Coble Hall 306 on Wednesday, Oct. 11 anytime between 9am and 4pm to do work and enjoy some coffee and baked goods courtesy of the EU Center. We will also offer some quiet crafts and activities, such as puzzles and coloring pages, that can help you destress. RSVPing (via this form) is appreciated but not required.

Graduate students in the arts and humanities, come to Levis Faculty Center for a co-working session! There will be designated space available to work on your projects, and light refreshments will be provided.

Join us this Friday the 13th via Zoom to delve into the captivating world of witches, demons, and women's history through a spellbinding lecture and a rare glimpse into the past. We’ll leave no cauldron unturned as we explore the origins, powers, and misunderstood narratives surrounding these topics. Expand your knowledge, challenge stereotypes, and embrace the magic within — pre-register at the link below!

McKinley Health Center serves on-campus students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

The University of Illinois Counseling Center provides mental health counseling and well-being education for students. 

If you or a student you know may need support with their basic needs or financial stressors, please reach out.