blog posts

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  Thesis Summer Reading List

  May 16, 2022 11:30 am

  A few years ago, we asked campus experts to recommend books for students who are working on their theses. In this year’s installment, their recommendations include books with writing tips, career exploration strategies, and stories to help you escape work to find balance. Here are their suggestions!

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  Taking Classes Online? These Tips Will Help

  Aug 31, 2020 11:15 pm

  Online learning has gained a prominent place in our everyday lives since mid-March, when the university switched to a fully online format of instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether you are a returning online student or taking some of your first grad school classes online, staying organized and connecting with your peers online can all help you be successful. SAGE member and PhD candidate Olnancy Tzirides provides tips she’s learned from her research and teaching experience in online learning.

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  How to Keep Track of Your Stuff or Four Horror Stories in Two Parts

  Feb 10, 2021 10:00 am

  PART II: My file management horror stories and how they taught me to manage my data like a pro. 

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  Sloan UCEM at Illinois Helps Underrepresented Students Pursue Advanced Degrees and Career Paths

  May 31, 2017 11:30 am

  “Illinois is committed to the goal of achieving diversity and excellence,” says Dr. Ellen Wang Althaus, director of Sloan University Center of Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM). 

  The Sloan UCEM at Illinois is one of the eight centers in the country funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. With a one-million-dollar, three-year grant, the Illinois UCEM was created to broaden participation and provide support for underrepresented minority graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. It  provides activities designed to support students toward doctorate completion, such as professional development opportunities, mentoring, research opportunities, workshops, and seminars. 

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  Where Are They Now? Cecily Garber

  Feb 24, 2016 10:45 am

  Where can a graduate degree from the University of Illinois take you? In this monthly series, we catch up with one recent Graduate College alum and ask the question: "Where are they now?".

  Cecily Garber completed her PhD in English (literature) in 2014. Now, she works as a Communications Officer and ACLS (American Council of Learned Societies) Public Fellow at the Council of Independent Colleges, an association that supports small liberal arts colleges. There, she runs social media channels, updates a website, writes and edits, helps organize a large symposium, and occasionally edits video and audio all with the goal of promoting the liberal arts.

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  Why You Should (or Shouldn't) Go to Grad School

  Feb 24, 2021 5:00 pm

  Why go to graduate school? There are a thousand reasons, which is why it's more interesting to discuss why not to go. 

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  Fellowship Tips: Crafting a Good Research Question

  Jan 29, 2020 3:30 pm

  A typical fellowship application contains many components of varying lengths, yet it’s the shortest component — the research question — that’s the most important. Without a strong and explicitly-stated research question, a funding proposal never gets off the ground. So, what constitutes a good research question?

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  Where Are They Now?: Morgan (McClain-McKinney) Limo

  Jun 15, 2018 8:30 am

  Morgan (McClain-McKinney) Limo graduated from the University of Illinois in 2011 with an M. A. in Political Science. Roughly a day after walking across the stage in her cap and gown, she was on a plane bound for Washington, DC to pursue her dream of a government position. Now, she works as a Foreign Service Officer at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and is based in Conakry, Guinea where she supports strategic planning, budget, and communications for a variety of sustainable development and post-Ebola recovery programs.

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  What to Do Immediately After an Interview

  Nov 12, 2018 3:15 pm

  You just finished a job interview. Moments ago, you hung up the phone or arrived back at your hotel room. What should you do next?

  In his most recent article for Inside Higher Ed, Derek Attig talks about things you can do in just 15 to 30 minutes to set yourself up for success in the next stages of the hiring process and beyond. This advice applies to any kind of job search -- whether in or outside academe.

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  Podcast: You Can’t Pour from an Empty Cup

  Jun 17, 2021 5:00 pm

  SAGE grad student podcasters interview the Counseling Center’s Kamau Grantham, who gives everyone permission to take care of themselves.

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  What is Group Therapy, and How Does it Work?

  Mar 16, 2021 11:45 am

  We ask the Counseling Center's Kamau Grantham 5 questions about the value of group therapy.

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  These Are Some of Illinois Graduate Students' Favorite Podcasts

  Jul 19, 2023 8:45 am

  We asked Illinois graduate students for their favorite podcasts. Here are some of their favorites! 

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  Meet Our Fellows: Busra Karagobek, Visiting Fulbright Fellow from Ankara, Turkey

  Feb 4, 2019 1:15 pm

  In this special "Meet Our Fellows" post, SAGE member Meera interviews Busra Karagobek, a PhD student from Turkey, who is currently studying at the University of Illinois under a Fulbright Scholarship. Let's meet Busra!

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  Radical Healing / Collective Thriving

  May 18, 2020 3:00 pm

  Getting work done looks very different today than it did at the beginning of the Spring semester. For Amir Maghsoodi, PhD student in Educational Psychology, the shift from in-person, clinical counseling training has offered time to deepen his social justice work with the Radical Healing Collective, a group of psychology scholars who work in issues of culture, ethnicity, and race. 

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  What's It Like to Compete in Research Live? Hear from a few pros.

  Sep 17, 2019 1:15 pm

  Each year, the Graduate College hosts the event Research Live!, which gives graduate students a chance to share their work with the campus and community and to practice their communication skills. The catch? Contestants only have 3 minutes to describe their work and it needs to be accessible to a generalist audience. Last year, a number of students took the challenge. We interviewed four about their experience and got some of their tips for public speaking. 

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  Exploring Career Pathways while in Graduate School

  Oct 27, 2023 2:00 pm

  Exploring your career options can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Hear from recipients of the Graduate College's Career Exploration Fellowship about their time as fellows.

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  Where Are They Now? Tori Davis

  Jan 30, 2017 2:30 pm

  Where can a graduate degree from the University of Illinois take you? In this monthly series, we catch up with one recent Graduate College alum and ask the question: "Where are they now?".

  Tori Davis graduated from the Illinois Professional Science Master’s Program in December 2015 with a master’s degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition. A month later, she started her career with AB InBev as a Group Manager in the Research Pilot Brewery. In this role, she supports the development of new products as well as the continuous improvement of AB InBev's current products and processes. 

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  Where Are They Now?: Shantel Martinez

  Apr 16, 2019 10:30 pm

  Shantel Martinez graduated from the University of Illinois with a Ph.D. in Communications & Media from the Institute of Communications Research in 2016 after earning an Ed.M. in Educational Policy Studies in 2011. She currently works as the Assistant Director of the Otter Cross Cultural Center at California State University, Monterey Bay where she oversees the daily operations of the center.

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  Your Work Is Vital, Tell the World About It

  Oct 10, 2018 6:15 pm

  Laura Adamovicz is hard at work saving the world — one turtle at a time. Last year Laura, a PhD candidate in Comparative Biosciences, won first place in Research Live! — a competition that challenges graduate students to describe their work in three minutes or less. In her talk, titled “Turtles in Trouble: Applications of Health Assessment for Conservation,” Laura explained how her work combines math, science, and medicine to study the impact of the environment and infectious diseases on several box turtle populations, with the ultimate goal of improving conservation efforts in animal species.

  We checked in with Laura (who will serve as a judge at this year’s competition) to hear about why she decided to participate in Research Live! and to see where her research and fieldwork has taken her this past year.

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  Where Are They Now?: Sam Chadwick

  Feb 5, 2020 4:15 pm

  Triple Civil Engineering Alumna, Sam Chadwick's career as a Rail Engineer for WSP USA in Chicago, IL took her all the way around the world to teach at the Tashkent Institute of Railway Engineering in Uzbekistan. Read all about her career trajectory which started at Engineering Open House back in 2008!

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  Where Are They Now?: Amber Hendricks

  May 14, 2018 12:15 pm

  Amber Hendricks graduated from the Illinois Professional Science Master’s Program in 2011 with a master’s degree in Agricultural Production. She has held multiple research positions in the agricultural industry and currently works for Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont™ as a Production Research Scientist at the Johnston, Iowa campus. In her role, she uses data to inform decision-makers on best practices for improving corn seed quality and cornfield yields.

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  SAGE Advice for My Past Self

  Aug 17, 2015 3:45 pm

  We caught up with some of the members of this year’s SAGE (Students Advising on Graduate Education) board to ask them just one question: If you could give your first-year-grad student self one piece of advice, what would it be?

  Their responses were funny, honest, and totally on point.

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  Lessons Learned from a PhD Student who Studies PhD Students’ Stress and Coping

  Dec 7, 2023 12:00 pm

  Joe Mirabelli has spent years studying graduate students' experiences with stress. Now he's sharing tips for managing the feelings and stressors of graduate school.

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  Creative and Collaborative: Trying out Careers in Publishing

  Jun 17, 2019 12:00 pm

  I recently had the opportunity to participate in a “Try-It-Out Experience” through the Grad College Career Development Office and the University of Illinois Press. This one-day professional development opportunity provides graduate students with a focused goal-setting session, industry connections, and the chance to explore new-to-them career paths.

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  AI @ Illinois: How Are Illinois Graduate Students Using Generative AI?

  Oct 5, 2023 9:00 am

  Generative AI is here, and it's making waves. We asked grad students at Illinois about how they're using AI in their everyday lives and work. This is what they told us.

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  Where Are They Now?: Karen Barton

  Dec 17, 2018 11:30 am

  Karen Barton graduated from the University of Illinois in 2013 with an M.S. in Library and Information Science and certificates in Community Informatics and Youth Services. She currently works at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), where she is the Liaison to the School of Health Professions and Community Engagement Librarian. Karen is the single point of contact for library services for students, faculty, and staff for one of five schools within the institution and works on various campus and community engagement initiatives to promote library resources and services in support of education, research, and community health.

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  Courtney Richardson's Transformation of Historical Information

  Nov 1, 2020 5:45 pm

  Doctoral student Courtney Richardson reads aloud her award-winning 2020 Image of Research entry and shares how she created it.

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  Bringing the Magic of Iranian Music to the Heartland

  Apr 29, 2019 11:45 am

  The University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign is home to a highly diverse student body and their respective student associations, which aim to cultivate and share with each other their music, food, art and traditions.

  In this piece, we feature an event organized by the Iranian Cultural Association (ICA) on our campus during the Spring 2019 semester. ICE hosted Kayhan Kalhor, a globally recognized musician from Iran known for his transcendental music and for his ensemble collaborations with other musicians across the globe. Kalhor is known to play several instruments in particular the Kamancheh and the Setar. This event was made possible by the ICA along with support from Center for South Asian & Middle Eastern Studies and several other units on campus. 

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  Podcast: A Research Pivot, One Year Later

  Mar 15, 2021 3:00 pm

  It has been a year of COVID. Grad student podcasters share their funniest Zoom stories and Burning Man expert Caitlin Brooks shares insights on the power of community in times of isolation.

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  Where Are They Now?: Lexi Shurilla

  Aug 20, 2018 1:30 pm

  Lexi Shurilla graduated from the University of Illinois in 2015 with an M.S. in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism with a Sport Management focus. She currently works for AmPride Communications, Inc. as the Editor-in-Chief of Community Concierge Magazine (CCM), a quarterly magazine featuring the best of the Champaign-Urbana community. She is responsible for the content and quality of CCM by ensuring stories are accurate, engaging and informative.

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  Celebrating our Graduates at the Spring '24 Doctoral Hooding Ceremony

  May 15, 2024 11:15 am

  Doctoral hooding is the end of one journey and the beginning of another. We've got a behind-the-scenes view of this semester's celebrations.

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  Using Job Ads for Career Exploration

  Jul 31, 2018 12:00 pm

  Reviewing advertisements of all sorts can help you identify appealing job types and sectors that you may never even have heard of, advises Derek Attig in this post originally published on Inside Higher Ed.

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  Where Are They Now? Daniel Harnos

  Feb 11, 2019 12:30 pm

  A close call with a tropical cyclone as a child led Daniel Harnos to become fascinated with the weather. This led him to earn degrees in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Illinois in 2010 (MS) and 2014 (PhD). Now, he works as Meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Climate Prediction Center where he helps others prepare for weather and climate changes by delivering real-time meteorological information and forecasts.

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  Podcast: Bringing Childlike Approaches to Self-Care

  Jun 17, 2021 3:00 pm

  Abby shares some techniques to lower stress in elementary school students, such as a 5-4-3-2-1 mapping exercise, that might also work for grad students. 

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  "Shoot for the Moon" and Other Lessons I Learned from My PhD

  Oct 19, 2020 12:30 pm

  Chelsea Yu, PhD candidate in Finance, has learned a lot about herself and being productive through the process of figuring out the best motivational strategies to help support her goals as a PhD student. In this piece, originally published on her LinkedIn page, she explores 9 lessons she's learned during her PhD and how they helped her navigate her way through to candidacy.

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  Where Are They Now?: Irisbel Guzman Sanchez

  Oct 1, 2018 10:30 am

  Irisbel Guzman Sanchez graduated from the University of Illinois in 2015 with a PhD in Biochemistry. After graduation, she became a Presidential Management Fellow which led to a full-time position in Health Informatics for the United States Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA). She is currently a Health Science Specialist for the VA New England Healthcare System, where she analyzes data and develops new tools for decision-makers to better understand operational healthcare databases and analyses.

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  Teaching (and Learning) Beyond the Classroom

  Sep 21, 2015 11:45 am

  For many Illinois graduate students, the classroom is just one avenue for teaching and learning. We asked three graduate students to reflect on their experiences working with programs that served middle school, high school, and incoming graduate students. Although their research interests and programs differ, they shared a common outcome. Through mentoring, they’d learned as much as they taught.  They shared their thoughts with Grad Life.

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  Podcast: The Fine Art of Balance

  Jun 17, 2021 4:00 pm

  Theatre doctoral student Vincent Carlson performs "You and Your Work," a poem he wrote inspired by boundary setting and conflicting ideas about work ethic. 

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  Starting a PhD During a Pandemic

  Feb 23, 2021 4:45 pm

  Starting grad school in the middle of a pandemic has not been easy, but the ISE Department has been incredibly supportive! 

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  Illinois Graduate Students Share Experiences from the Global Young Scientists Summit

  May 19, 2023 2:00 pm

  Ten graduate students from the University of Illinois traveled to Singapore for the Global Young Scientists Summit. We chatted with them about their experiences—and why others should consider attending. 

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  One Story Video: Get to Know Microbiology Ph.D. Student, Katie Frye

  Sep 10, 2021 5:00 pm

  Meet Katie Frye a Ph.D. student in Microbiology and a COVID-19 SHIELD: Target, Test, Tell team member.

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  Ethnography: Anthropological Research on Queer Pentecostalism in Brazil

  Jan 26, 2022 4:30 am

  "I think of anthropological method as the art of being in relation with others, and ethnographic description as the art of writing those relations. It’s a difficult art, stepping into other people’s lives and describing the relations you think you see."

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  Development is a Dance: Tips for a Non-Linear Journey

  Jun 1, 2022 8:30 am

  "A baseball scout once told me, 'Development is a dance.' He was talking about how young baseball players don’t improve on a linear path. Some take steps forward and then back, or laterally, before figuring it out."

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  Get to Know Recreation, Sport & Tourism Online Master’s Student, Jay Lopez

  Sep 10, 2021 5:00 pm

  Meet Jay Lopez, an online master’s student in Recreation, Sport & Tourism. Jay lives and works in Long Beach, California, with his wife, Emily, and their two young children.

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  3 Quick Everyday Tips for Surviving & Thriving on Zoom

  May 7, 2021 5:30 pm

  Zoom fatigue is real. We share a few quick tips for before, during, and after online meetings that you can do to avoid burnout.

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  Punit Singhvi's Asphalt Concrete Brownie with Hot Fudge Sauce

  Nov 1, 2020 5:00 pm

  Doctoral student Punit Singhvi reads aloud his award-winning 2020 Image of Research entry and shares his recipe for success.

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  Meet Our Fellows: Matthew Klopfenstein, Fulbright Fellow in Moscow

  Apr 23, 2018 12:45 am

  Matthew Klopfenstein has spend the last seven months deep in the world of Russian archives exploring how the deaths of female pop stars in the early 1900s entered the public realm and became national phenomena. Read about Matthew's day to day life as a Fulbright Fellow living in Moscow, Russia.

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  Creating Connections with Advice from the Surgeon General

  Jul 20, 2023 1:15 pm

  Andrea Bridges shares tips for fostering connection in our lives.

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  What is a Mentor? Reflections on the Mentor-Mentee Relationship in Graduate School

  Sep 29, 2023 9:15 am

  Claire Baytas (PhD, ’23; comparative literature) reflects on lessons she learned about the mentoring process during her time in graduate school: from thinking about the nature of a mentor in the context of grad school to busting the myth of the "super mentor." 

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  Podcast: Your Portfolio Will Never Be Perfect or Done

  Feb 25, 2021 4:45 pm

  Landscape designer Saloni Chawla (MLA '18) sits down to talk with us about how she landed her dream job and why she considers it a perfect match.