The Family Resource Center (FRC) is a welcoming play and community space where UChicago families can access resources, information, supportive services, and enrichment programming. Membership is free. Any university-affiliated family is welcome: Students, postdocs, faculty, staff, and alumni.

The multi-age FRC playroom and playground are located in the Woodlawn Social Services Center at 950 East 61st Street. Our current hours are Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. We offer children’s classes, family parties, and a daily themed activity in our art room with stories, crafts, and related games. We have a large playground. Come visit and play!

Stay tuned for a student-parent write-in in Winter 2023, a free babysitting service for dissertating student parents.

For more information, visit us online, keep up with our newsletter, or better yet, drop by and see us in person!

The academic year has just started, but the search for internships and jobs already is well underway for many graduate students and postdocs. Whether you are applying to your first tenure-track job, hunting for the perfect postdoc, or trying to land an internship at a leading company, UChicagoGRAD’s Career Development Team has you covered with a range of helpful workshops.

Career30: These weekly presentations teach you career fundamentals in 30 minutes or less. Check out upcoming sessions on Résumés, Cover Letters, LinkedIn, Networking, Interviewing, and Negotiation.

Academic Job Market Support: Learn up-to-date best practices from UChicagoGRAD’s expert team of PhD and postdoc advisors. Join coming sessions on Negotiating an Academic Job Offer, Demystifying Campus Visits and Job Talks, and To VAP or Not to VAP.

Oral Communications Training: Increase your comfort with interviews and informal networking. Attend an upcoming Storytelling for Behavioral Interviews session or one of the Weekly Technical Interview Workshops.

Graduate students often ask: why should I apply for a fellowship? The fellowships team at UChicagoGRAD is happy to meet with students wondering how a fellowship fits into their academic career. Fellowships can provide funding to pursue academic research or travel abroad for enriching learning experiences. Students also remark that competitive fellowships strengthen CV’s and resumes. But there is more to gain from fellowships than funding and prestige.

Students benefit from the process of applying to fellowships, which require applicants to offer compelling reasons justifying their research to specialists and interdisciplinary audiences alike. Applying to a fellowship encourages students to think through important logistics of their research, such how to select research participants, how many documents can feasibly be reviewed in archival settings, and how to set achievable goals. Some fellowship competitions, such as the Fulbright Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad, provide feedback to applicants, which is an excellent, low-stakes opportunity to discover how others are interpreting your research proposal.

Those who apply to fellowships are equipped to speak to a variety of audiences about their goals and contributions, a skill that will serve students’ academic and professional trajectories in graduate school and beyond. We encourage you to apply!

To learn more about fellowships, schedule an advising appointment to explore opportunities, sign up for an upcoming event, or join our fellowships Canvas site. We offer written feedback on draft application materials for all fellowship opportunities.

UChicagoGRAD is announcing the launch of Interstride – a platform that offers support for international students and postdocs on their U.S and international job search process. It is an interactive portal that provides insights, community, and job opportunities. Both domestic and international students can find resources for living and working abroad – whether for study abroad, a summer internship, or a full-time job in 80+ countries.

To access the platform, go to https://www.interstride.com/university-of-chicago/ and click on student login. That will bring you to shibboleth and you can proceed to create an account directly from there. Contact josephinecai@uchicago.edu if you have questions.

Register now to attend GRADUCon—UChicagoGRAD’s annual career exploration conference—and learn from alumni pursuing a variety of career paths.

Are you contemplating your next steps after finishing your graduate program or postdoc? It can be challenging to decide on a career path and break into a new field, but these challenges are easier when you have allies on your side. At GRADUCon—UChicago’s annual career exploration conference exclusively for graduate students and postdocs—you can meet and receive advice from alumni who have been in your shoes.

The conference, which takes place virtually on March 31 and April 1, 2022, features career-themed panels and opportunities to chat in small groups with 60+ professionals working in a wide range of fields. These mentors can answer your questions about their day-to-day work and provide wisdom for following similar paths.

To join the small group conversations, you must first RSVP for GRADUCon and register for any panels that interest you. When you join a panel on March 31 or April 1, you will first enjoy 50 minutes of moderated discussion among the alumni panelists. Then, during the final 25 minutes of each panel, you will be invited to join a breakout room to learn more from a panelist of your choosing. Click here to view the list of panels and participating alumni. Want to update your headshot before the event? Register here for a free headshot.

Don’t enter the job search alone. Seek mentorship from those who’ve been there before at GRADUCon 2022.

GRADUCON 2022 SCHEDULE (All Times CDT)

Thursday, March 31, 2022

12:30 PM – 1:15 PM: Welcome Address from President Paul Alivisatos and Vice Provost Jason Merchant

1:30 PM – 2:45 PM: Panel Discussions, Session I

• Careers in Data Science
• Curatorial Careers
• Careers in U.S. Government

3:00 PM – 4:15 PM: Panel Discussions, Session II

• Careers in Sustainable Science
• Careers in Quantitative Finance
• Careers in Boutique Consulting Firms

Friday, April 1, 2022

9:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Panel Discussions, Session III

• Careers at Startups
• Careers in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• U.S. Job Search for International Students/Postdocs

10:30 AM – 11:45 PM: Panel Discussions, Session IV

• Careers in Gaming
• Industry Research Careers (STEM)
• Careers in Think Tanks

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM: Panel Discussions, Session V

• Careers in Publishing
• Industry Research Careers (Social Sciences)
• Careers in Strategy Consulting

GRADTalk is a suite of programs and resources designed to help graduate students and postdocs increase the impact of their scholarship and public speaking. We provide one-on-one consultations on topics ranging from interview preparation to making comments in class.  Right now, many graduate students and postdocs are utilizing GRADTalk appointments to practice their faculty job talks and discuss the campus interview process. GRADTalk also offers a range of quarterly workshops. Join us this quarter for a workshop titled “Public Speaking 101.” Whether you’re speaking to an audience of one or one hundred, public speaking can be a difficult and nerve-wracking experience. This workshop will help you to change that. You will learn some effective strategies for honing your public speaking skills, engaging and motivating your audience, and managing anxieties about public speaking. By the end of the workshop you will have some concrete tips for becoming a more confident and engaging speaker. You can RSVP for the event here.

Graduate students working toward advanced proficiency in second languages are sure to be interested two fellowship opportunities with upcoming deadlines: Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) and the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award (DDRA).

FLAS Fellowships are awards for graduate students concentrating on modern foreign language and international or area studies. In the 2022-2023 competition cycle, UChicago will accept applications for languages in three world areas: East Asia, East Europe, and Middle East. All applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents, and cannot be beyond the fifth year of graduate study while holding the award. FLAS Fellowships provide two kinds of awards:

• Academic Year Fellowships for language and area studies coursework on campus during the 2022-23 academic year, and
• Summer FLAS Fellowships for language study on campus, domestically, or abroad during summer 2022.

Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Award (DDRA) fellowships, supported by the United States Department of Education, provide opportunities to doctoral candidates to engage in dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. Projects deepen research knowledge on and help the nation develop capability in areas of the world not generally included in U.S. curricula. Doctoral candidates can propose 6-12 months of research in non-Western countries on this fellowship. Applicants must have the necessary language skills to carry out research. Multi-country proposals are accepted. Interested University of Chicago applicants MUST apply through UChicagoGRAD. Students should reach out to Kevin Doherty (kevdoh@uchicago.edu) to initiate their candidacy and schedule an advising meeting to discuss their application. An information session will be held on February 9, 2022 at 12pm, and workshops will be announced soon.