Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Image of Research competition! We are simply amazed by the diversity and beauty of graduate student research on our campus: Ilaria Strocchia (1st Prize), Yun Seong Kim (2nd Prize), Lijia Guo (3rd Prize), Lili Federico (Honorable Mention), Xavier Davenport (Honorable Mention), Latashia Key (People's Choice). Check out the online exhibit or stop by the Graduate College to see them in-person.

Earlier this week, the university joined several national higher ed associations and other leading research universities in a lawsuit challenging a new U.S. Department of Energy policy that runs afoul of the longstanding regulatory frameworks governing federal grants and foundational principles of administrative law. Read more in the latest Federal Updates newsletter.

The Greg Gulick Service Excellence Award is awarded annually to two IT professionals at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The award honors IT professionals who exemplify Greg’s values and commitment to collaboration and servant leadership. The nomination form is now open through 5 p.m. on Monday, May 5. You may nominate more than one individual, including prior nominees, but self-nominations will not be accepted.

The Intensive Language Instruction Program (ILIP) offers classes in 11 different languages. ILIP classes combine language and culture via engaging activities led by skilled instructors. No grade, just for fun! Students receive 30 hours of enjoyable language instruction which maximizes exposure to the target language to help them meet their own personal learning goals. Online and in-person options are available! Register for ILIP today!

Friday, May 2, at 5:00pm is the deadline for doctoral students to complete their dissertation deposit for Spring 2025 degree conferral. This deadline is firm and cannot be waived. Because all corrections and all required deposit materials must be received no later than 5:00pm, the Thesis Office strongly encourages students to submit the dissertation for review several days prior to the deadline. For further information about the process visit the Thesis Office website.

Are you curious about how the library can support you in accessing free resources for self-care? Would you like to know more about self-care but are unsure where to start? This workshop will facilitate discussion about self-care strategies and will provide opportunities to search for free resources (online and in print) that can support your personal self-care practices. After this workshop, you'll be able to take better advantage of self-care resources at UIUC and beyond.

As the semester winds down, don’t miss your last chance to de-stress with Maui, the lovable Newfoundland, and his furry friends! 🐶💙 They’ll be visiting the Chez Veterans Center for one final round of snuggles, tail wags, and pure joy before the break.  Come by, take a break, and let these therapy dogs remind you that you’re almost to the finish line! 🎓✨

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program enables U.S. citizens to travel abroad for an academic year as an English Teaching Assistant. The application includes a Statement of Grant Purpose and, new this year, three short responses in place of a personal statement. In this workshop, we will show students how best to approach each narrative component and review sample statements. Please register in advance for this in-person workshop. Grad students interested in a Fulbright Study/Research Grant are invited to reach out for materials from last week's workshop. 

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 grant writing proficiency. In this workshop from the Grad College's Office of External Fellowships, designed for students in science, technology, engineering, & 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 you can adapt to become a competitive applicant for prestigious awards. Register here.

The Rare Book & Manuscript Library is now accepting applications for The John ‘Bud’ Velde Graduate Fellowship Fund. Successful applicants will receive an award of $3000 for research focused upon the Rare Book & Manuscript Library’s collections and/or activities.  Applications are due at 5pm CDT on May 30, 2025. Full application requirements can be found at the enclosed link.

Are you planning to deposit your thesis this semester? We have videos that can guide you through the thesis submission and deposit process. Check out our Submitting Your Thesis for Graduate College Approval video for an overview of the thesis submission system. If the Graduate College requests corrections to your thesis, our Reviewing & Submitting Your Thesis Corrections video will help you navigate the resubmission process. 

Are you preparing for the academic job market in the U.S.? Don’t miss this opportunity to learn directly from those who’ve recently gone through the process! The Asian American Cultural Center invites you to a panel discussion, featuring Asian and Asian American graduate students who have successfully secured faculty positions or postdoctoral appointments across diverse disciplines. They’ll share their experiences, strategies, and lessons learned from navigating the U.S. job market. If you plan to attend this panel, please sign up by visiting go.illinois.edu/AAAGNNavigatingtheJobMarketi

An effective job interview should demonstrate why you're a good fit for a role and leave the interviewers excited about the prospect of working with you.  But actually achieving this goal can be a challenge. In this online workshop, we'll discuss strategies for preparing yourself for job interviews, and techniques for answering different types of questions by telling your professional story in compelling ways. No registration required. This workshop will take place on Zoom at https://go.grad.illinois.edu/eventspace

If you're graduating in the coming year and want a faculty job, you need to start preparing now. This summer is a crucial time to get organized and prepare application materials. The workshop will address how the faculty job search process works, all of the application documents you will need to prepare, how to stay organized during the search, and more. We will also address how changing policy and economic landscapes might affect the 2025 academic job search. This workshop will take place in person at the Graduate College (507 E Green St) and on Zoom at https://go.grad.illinois.edu/eventspace

Join the International and Area Studies Library for this informal panel discussion. Faculty and students will be sharing their perspectives, approaches, and strategies for working with sources in their respective disciplines and how they evaluate information on complex subjects, even controversial topics. We are also inviting participants to share their experience and insights with the audience. Our goal is to have a good discussion. All are welcome!

Unhealthy group dynamics, poor communication, or unresolved conflict can derail your research and and make life miserable. Labs That Work for Everyone is an interactive, asynchronous program that builds skills to help you avoid problems, or to address effectively the ones that do happen. Build the skills no one ever warned you’d need by piloting the program individually or with your lab group. 

Finish strong surrounded by other grads working on long-term writing projects! Our biweekly writing group provides grad students with dedicated time to make progress on any writing project in a supportive atmosphere. Each meeting consists of a short goal-setting conversation, quiet writing time, and a concluding reflection and wrap-up. You only need to register once with your U of I email once per semester!

We are excited to launch The SDOH & Place Data Discovery App—made to help researchers, policymakers, and community advocates access key place-based Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) data. With built in archive links—protecting data even if the original source goes offline—User-Friendly Exploration, and Comprehensive Data Summaries, this tool makes finding free SDOH datasets accessible to everyone in need of critical datasets. Try out the new Data Discovery App on the SDOH & Place website: https://sdohplace.org/

Please join us for an informal virtual coffee break discussion. Eunjoo Kim (History) will introduce the Korean adoptee working bibliography project.  Anyone interested in Korean studies and Korean adoptee studies are welcome.

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 Spring 2025. 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 June 25th. Please reach out to mmw3@illinois.edu to participate. 

INNER VOICES Social Issues Theatre will be holding auditions for Fall 2025 on Thursday, May 1,  5-6 pm and Tuesday, May 6, 5-7 pm. Auditions will be held in the Armory Free Theatre (160 Armory) and may also be scheduled via a Zoom appointment. Open to all university students. Though useful, no previous experience is required. Come with a prepared 1 to 2 minute monologue (it doesn't have to be memorized). Students can elect to receive 2 hours of course credit: Theatre 400M. For questions or to schedule an alternative audition time, please contact Lisa Fay at innervoices@illinois.edu.

“Tesseract,” the culminating thesis concert of the Bachelor of Fine Arts class of 2025 brings fresh perspectives from the creative mind/bodies of “soon to be” Dance at Illinois alumni. Presented for the first time in the Studio Theatre, the concert explodes with diverse aesthetics, passionate dancing, and creative ambition as this group of seniors storm headfirst toward upending the old guard. Works by: Ashley Bruno, Khiari Everett, Yuno Kimura, Anna Lillig, Brooklyn Lutz, Bellamy Negron, Claire Rineberg, Sarah Vickerman, and Damiyah Williams.

In the Arabic-speaking world, coffee and tea are rituals of hospitality and generosity that are taken seriously. Join International Education and the Salaam MENA Cultural Center during Arab American Heritage Month as we taste and experience coffee and tea cultures while learning local phrases of respect and gratitude to praise and thank our hosts.   

Learn about Italian culture and cook classic Italian dishes such as cacio e pepe, risotto al telefono, and tiramisu in this free cooking class at ARC Instructional Kitchen! Register by Friday, April 25. Spots are limited to 20.

The 2025 Chaz and Roger Ebert Symposium, presented by the Roger Ebert Center for Film Studies, will address "Artificial Intelligence Imagined and Realized." The Ebert Symposium’s mission this year is to bridge academic research with broader cultural conversations about the uses of artificial intelligence. Join us for this free two-day event on April 22-23, featuring a film screening, a keynote speaker, and two roundtable discussions. 

Join Darren Zhu, junior studying history, for a walking tour on the University of Illinois campus hosted by the Illinois Distributed Museum. This 90-minute tour will explore campus locations tied to groundbreaking innovations in sports, from wheelchair athletics to Title IX to Gymkana. Learn how our campus shaped national conversations around inclusivity, performance, and sports science. Register

This informal group aims to bring together graduate students from across campus to share their enthusiasm for the thought-provoking scholarship that animates them as people. Stop by to listen, chat, and share lunch! Light refreshments provided. If you are interested in sharing something, please contact Chloe Parrella. Presentations should be no longer than 10 minutes and include explanations of any field specific terminology.

The Center for Writing Studies is excited to invite you to The15th Annual Gesa E. Kirsch Graduate Symposium on Thursday, April 24 and Friday, April 25, 2025. This year’s program features a workshop and keynote by Dr. Alexandra Cavallaro, panels on topics such as multimodal composition, education and pedagogy, and navigating challenges in academia, and a graduate roundtable on navigating the job market. Please click the title to view the full program.

Japan House's annual Fall Open House resumes on Saturday, April 26 featuring Seiran Chiba, Akie Hashimoto, and Ayako Hirai to present on Fukushima traditional arts and crafts. Traditional Japanese tea ceremonies will be offered at 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. At 12pm, the artists will be giving a free presentation about their work. Throughout the day, they will have an art show with pieces available to purchase showcasing Japanese calligraphy, lacquerware, and paper mache. Registration required for tea ceremonies.

Stop by the northwest side of the ACES Library, Information, and Alumni Center on Friday, April 25, at 11:45 a.m., to grab a shovel and help plant the 2025 Arbor Day tree. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will also celebrate its continued recognition as an Arbor Day Foundation Tree Campus Higher Education with featured speakers who will read a proclamation and describe the many benefits of trees. Attendees will get to participate in interactive games and view displays. More details about the event are available on the F&S website. 

Step into an evening of renewal and harmonious innovation at JFO’s Annual Spring Concert on April 25, 2025, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at Foellinger Auditorium. Experience the groundbreaking debut of our Fusion Orchestra, where the evocative tones of traditional Chinese instruments merge effortlessly with the elegance of Western symphonic masterpieces. Joined by our evocative Choir and dynamic Pop Band, this event promises a captivating journey of artistic synergy and cultural unity. Embrace the spirit of spring and be inspired by a performance where tradition meets modernity. Link to poster

Celebrate the Chez Veterans Center’s 10th Anniversary and the end of the academic year with us! We’ll honor military-connected students, recognize graduates and scholarship recipients, dedicate our newly named kitchen, and thank the supporters who make our mission possible. Food will be provided.

Please join the EUC, History, and Political Science for a screening of the 2004 film Downfall (Der Untergang), which depicts the final days of Adolf Hitler during the Battle of Berlin. Stefan Djordjevic (History) and Kostas Kourtikakis (Political Science) will give opening remarks on the historical context of the film and the significance of World War II in the establishment of the EU. Food will be served after the screening.

Join F&S and volunteer to count parked bicycles on campus Tuesday, April 29, from 10 a.m. to noon. The collected census data will help update the campus bike parking map and be used to make future decisions about bicycle infrastructure and programs. Onsite training will begin at 10 a.m., with the bike counting to occur immediately thereafter. Learn more about census efforts here.

Join students from all over the globe as we celebrate the end of the Spring semester with food, games and intercultural exchange! All are welcome to attend this event. International Education will provide meat and non-meat options in a cookout or potluck style meal. Meet other students who are currently participating in International Education's GLOBE program, play games from all around the world and enjoy the great outdoors!

The campus community is invited to attend the Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) awards celebration on Wednesday, April 23, from 2:30 to 4 p.m., at the I Hotel and Illinois Conference Center in the Alma Mater Room. Honorees in 16 ECIP-winning buildings will be recognized by F&S Utilities & Energy Services division for avoiding over $400,000 in combined energy costs during the last fiscal year. RSVP to help with a headcount for light refreshments.  

The Center for Writing Studies is excited to announce two upcoming events with Dr. Alexandra Cavallaro exploring queer literacies, incarceration, and abolitionist worldmaking through the LGBT Books to Prisoners archive. On Thurs 4/24 (4–5:30pm, Illini Union Bookstore 514), a hands-on workshop invites participants to analyze archival letters and experiment with creative research design (registration: https://shorturl.at/PUcgp). the On Fri 4/25 (12:45–1:45pm, Beckman 4269), Dr. Cavallaro's keynote explores how queer literacy practices behind bars help imagine more just and abolitionist futures.

Join A-WIS for our monthly seminar series, Science Uncorked. Our next event will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 24th, at The Literary in downtown Champaign. Our presenter will be Adrienne Antonson, Animal Sciences Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who will present “Echoes from the Womb: What We’re Learning About Pregnancy, Infections, and a Baby’s Brain". All are welcome!  

Join CDA and National Taiwan University for the "Smart Agriculture in Crops" webinar on April 30 @ 7 p.m. CDT. This session is part of our "Global Perspectives on Digital/Smart Agriculture" joint seminar series. Attend to learn about phenotyping plant responses to abiotic stress using the fluorescence lifetime imaging systems, AI-driven image analysis for enhancing crop monitoring and quality prediction, predicting nitrogen needs, and more. More details here.

In this talk, Dr. Csaba Varga will explore the application of spatial epidemiology in understanding the distribution of human Salmonella infections. Using data from disease surveillance programs, he will show how spatial and temporal patterns of Salmonella can be identified, modeled, and interpreted to identify risk factors. By integrating spatial analysis and epidemiological methods, he aims to assist public health authorities and develop prevention strategies. Dr. Varga will also discuss how these findings can inform disease control and prevention. Lunch will be provided!

Join us for an event exploring the Jesuit archives at the Jesuit University in Beirut. The archive includes memoirs, diaries, letters, and other documents that detail various aspects of daily life during The Great Famine from 1915 to 1918. Featured speakers include Dr. Christian Taoutel (Saint Joseph University of Beirut) and Dr. Marc Abou Abdallah (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign).

Join us for a lecture in the Illinois Forum on Human Flourishing in a Digital Age Speaker Series with Paul Scherz. His talk will examine the emerging field of precision medicine, which uses AI to identify risk factors, and will explore the effects an intensive focus on risk has on medicine, doctors, and patients. He will also suggests ways to implement AI that avoids ethical problems. 

The Towards a Center for Gender and Sex in Health team is hosting a workshop on May 2nd featuring Rose Eveleth as the keynote speaker from 12:30-1:45pm. Rose Eveleth's talk is free and open to the public. For more details including agenda, visit the program page. To register for the full event, please RSVP here by April 23. 

The IIRER Symposium on Mental Health and Work will provide an opportunity for professionals to enhance their knowledge and skills in serving clients with mental health and other health conditions. There will be an emphasis on challenges and innovative clinical applications in the mental health and vocational rehabilitation fields. Cost is $175 and includes meals, learning materials, and five continuing education credits (one in ethics) from the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification. Registration is required by May 15 at go.illinois.edu/IIRER25SymposiumMHW.

Please join us for an Advanced Packaging seminar with Ganesh Subbarayan, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Director of the Institute for Advanced System Integration and Packaging, and Co-Director for the Center for Heterogenous Integration Research in Packaging at Purdue University. All are welcome to attend a reception with a seminar to follow.

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.