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Career Exploration Fellowship

The Graduate College's Career Exploration Fellowship Program connects doctoral students with units within the university for substantive, mentored work experiences.

The main goal of the program is to enable doctoral students to gain experience and build skills beyond traditional research and teaching roles, aligning their professional development to a wider range of career aspirations. Graduate students develop a number of vital, transferrable skills through their work in research and teaching at the university, but students often tell us that they wish they also had the opportunity to get hands-on experience in other kinds of work. Such experience gives graduate students the chance to develop new skills, explore unfamiliar career options, and market themselves more effectively to employers when they graduate. You can read more about the experience of being a Career Exploration Fellow in this GradLIFE blog by a Fall 2023 Fellow.

How the Program Works

As a Career Exploration Fellow in Spring 2025, selected students will receive the following:

  • A 10-15 hour per week hourly position at a campus unit (at $25/hour). See host units below.
  • A $5,000 Career Exploration Fellowship from the Graduate College, which will generate a tuition waiver for the semester.
  • Required professional and career development seminar facilitated by the Graduate College.

The student's tasks and responsibilities as part of the hourly position will be determined by the host unit (in consultation with the student), and the host unit will provide mentoring and targeted professional development opportunities. In addition to their work with the host unit, the student are required to participate in a twice-monthly career exploration seminar, during which they will reflect on their work and engage in career development activities.

Spring 2025 Host Units

We are pleased to announce the lineup of Spring 2025 host sites! Each of these units will host one Career Exploration Fellow. Read more about the units and the work a Career Exploration Fellow might do for them below. Other host sites may be added during the period the application is open.

  • Asian American Cultural Center: Established in 2005, the Asian American Cultural Center (AACC) provides the university and greater community programs and resources that promote diverse and rich Asian and Asian American cultures. The graduate fellow will coordinate programming curricula that promotes educational, social, and cultural understanding (eg, support network for Asian/Asian American grad students, lunar new year programs). The graduate fellow will assist in other aspects of the daily operations and administration of the AACC (eg, weekly program and occasional community outreach).  Occasional evening and weekend events may be scheduled. The graduate fellow will be working collaboratively with other members of the team but may also work autonomously on individual projects. The AACC is looking for a graduate fellow that will be engaged, supportive, and motivated to learn about the Asian and Asian American community both on and beyond the campus environment.
  • The Cancer Center at Illinois: The Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL), located in UIUC’s Beckman Institute, seeks to harness innovations in physical science and engineering to advance cancer-relevant discoveries, develop new technologies and therapeutics, and train the next generation of leaders in cancer research. This effort requires an extensive amount of continuous data collection and management across many areas including research and education programs. It also requires evidence of good management of existing programs and development of activities to support the mission. Cancer Voices is a project to tell human stories from lives affected by cancer. Its goal is to bring together stories from diverse survivors, patients, researchers, doctors, family members, and more. This offers a wide view of how different people move through cancer systems, attending to differences that connect to people’s background and context, and works toward aware, effective, just ecosystems for cancer treatment and research. Career Exploration Fellow will perform interviews, synthesize the information into scripts that will be performed live in Illinois and bring them to an academic conference for others to learn from.
  • The Career Center: The Career Center exists to empower career choice and action. We coach and support Illinois undergraduate and graduate students as they explore their major and career options, get experience, and build lifelong career management skills. The grad fellow(s) will support the assessment and program evaluation efforts for The Career Center. They will work collaboratively with members of the Senior Leadership Team. Potential duties may include survey development, facilitation of individual interviews or focus groups, data analysis, documentation of findings, and presenting findings to the career services community. The fellow(s) will be assigned to one of two large projects. The first project is the development & implementation of a longitudinal study to evaluate the FOCUS Scholars program - a career development program designed for first generation, historically underrepresented college students. The second project will focus on the storytelling and data visualization on existing data on Illini student success in the job search and application process to health profession programs.
  • Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology: The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology is an interdisciplinary research unit that unifies genomics-related work across campus, addressing societal grand challenges through team science. IGB researchers come from many different disciplines, including biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, social sciences, engineering, crop science, and many others, and are brought together by a shared interest in how an understanding of living things can help us make the world a better place. Because of the broad potential impacts of basic and applied genomic research, the IGB has a strong focus on science communication and outreach activities. Our team and institute include members from a wide array of academic backgrounds, and we enjoy discovering how each person's strengths and interests can be incorporated into what we do. Depending on their interests, the Career Development Fellow will have opportunities to work within administrative groups dedicated to external relations and strategic partnerships; research center management; research infrastructure management; and communications and outreach, with opportunities for fellow-led writing and activity design projects.
  • Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies: The Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies (CEAPS) is the steward of campus-wide teaching, research, programming, and outreach on East Asia, as well as Southeast Asia and the Pacific. CEAPS has about 100 faculty affiliates across the campus and strives to broadly support the research, teaching, and service missions of the University of Illinois through grants, fellowships, academic initiatives, public programs, and K-12 educational outreach. The graduate fellow will work closely with CEAPS faculty and staff to manage center communication, programming, and community engagement initiatives. Responsibilities include writing content for CEAPS communication channels, coordinating logistics for talks, symposiums, and conferences, and representing CEAPS at community events or professional organizations. The graduate fellow may also work on data collection, proposal development or other individual projects based on fellow’s professional interests.
  • Chez Veterans Center: The Chez Veterans Center is a translational research unit dedicated to innovating and advancing support for military-connected students in higher education. As a nationally focused unit, the center provides a collaborative lab environment where faculty and graduate students engage in projects that directly contribute to improving student support systems. As an intern, you can participate in hands-on research activities, such as conducting needs assessments for military-connected students, designing and piloting support programs (e.g., peer mentorship networks or academic success workshops), and analyzing data from ongoing initiatives to evaluate their effectiveness. You may also be involved in writing research reports and developing policy recommendations to enhance campus services for military-connected students. A vital component of this internship is the production of a tangible deliverable. For example, you might develop a comprehensive research report that includes data visualizations on veterans' academic performance trends or a scalable veteran peer support model. These experiences will provide you with concrete examples of research and project management that can be used to bolster your portfolio for industry job market applications, particularly in roles related to program development, research analysis, or higher education administration. By the end of the internship, you will have gained valuable insights into translational research and the unique challenges faced by military-connected students while preparing yourself for future professional opportunities in academia and industry.
  • Humanities Research Institute: The Humanities Research Institute (founded as the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities in 1997) is a campus hub for research, programming, and public engagement at Illinois. HRI supports faculty and graduate research; sponsors a variety of internship opportunities for undergraduates; hosts talks and other events aimed at both scholarly and general audiences; and houses a variety of grants, the majority of which are the result of the generosity of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. A commitment to concrete strategies that make diversity, equity and inclusion part of HRI’s ways of knowing and doing is part of our ongoing, everyday work. For a broad and deep sense of what we do, please go to our website: https://hri.illinois.edu. The Career Exploration Fellow would participate in the life of HRI during the semester, attending staff meetings and events and meeting regularly with the director. They will also work on special projects connected to HRI’s planning for AY 2025-26, whose organizing theme is “Story and Place” (click here), with a special focus on undergraduate engagement. Among the events planned, collaboratively with The Library and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is Illinois’ first ever Humanities Open House in fall 2025, designed to showcase all that humanists have to offer both campus and community. This Fellowship is a chance to learn how a research institute works and how HRI is moving to extend its outreach to humanities undergraduates at Illinois (for an example, click here). Dr. Nancy Castro, deputy director and an affiliate with the department of English, will be the Fellow’s mentor.
  • IDEA Institute, Grainger College of Engineering: The Grainger College of Engineering IDEA Institute is responsible for surveying the national and university DEI landscape and evaluating practices and policies that impact broadening participation among students, faculty, and staff within the College. This research-based Institute also serves as the focal point for DEI activities with the Grainger College of Engineering. As a Career Exploration Fellow, you will support the initiatives of the IDEA Institute, including the IDEA Conference, Dean’s Distinguished Diversity Lecture, Grassroots Initiatives to Address Needs Together (GIANT) program, and Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program. Specifically, Fellows will be responsible for researching best practices in broadening student participation and for developing promotional materials and programming for workshops, conferences, seminars, and other activities. Fellows will actively collaborate with Institute leadership, Institute members, partner institutions, and other stakeholders. When possible, specific activities can be planned to align with Fellow’s skills and interests.
  • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment: The Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is an interdisciplinary research institutes which elevates the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a pioneer in sustainability, energy, and environmental leadership. We achieve this through cutting-edge interdisciplinary research, high quality educational programs, high-profile events, and innovative campus sustainability initiatives. We are seeking a fellow to support our campus sustainability and research areas. The fellow would work with iSEE and Facilities & Services staff to identify, gather, analyze, and document sustainability data from across campus units to use in the national Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System for higher education institutions. The fellow would also be tasked with looking for identifying emerging topics in sustainability research and funding opportunities.
  • Office of External Fellowships, Graduate College: The Office of External Fellowships in the Graduate College helps Illinois graduate students compete for external grants and fellowships. We do this primarily through presenting workshops and information sessions, offering individual advising on students’ proposals, and devising instructional resources and communication materials to support graduate students in learning the art of proposal writing. The fellow in this placement will be introduced to the profession of “fellowships advisor” while gaining experience also relevant to roles in advising, instructional design, and research development. They will attend general and departmental workshops and have the opportunity to develop expertise on a fellowship competition of their choice. The fellow will also learn about the similarities and differences between advising graduate and undergraduate students through engagement with the National and International Scholarships Program. Depending on their interest and skills, the Career Exploration Fellow may audit existing resources or help develop new educational resources for a specific fellowship competition or general fellowships training for graduate students.
  • Office of Research, College of ACES: The College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) is dedicated to supporting the growth, success, and well-being of its researchers. We aim to create a collaborative and empowering environment that fosters professional development, encourages high-impact interdisciplinary research, and celebrates achievements. As a Career Exploration Fellow in the Office of Research, you will join a team committed to advancing ACES research through the strategic management of resources, research infrastructure, and programmatic support. As a Fellow, you will engage with Office of Research staff to gain insight into their roles, understand how they facilitate the research process within the College, and explore their career trajectories. You will also attend meetings and events, such as the ACES Research Academy, which provides early career faculty with professional development tools to help them navigate the road to tenure and enhance their abilities as principal investigators. Additionally, you will have the chance to participate in the proposal development process and learn to analyze research solicitations from federal agencies, including the US Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and others. Together, these activities will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the wide range of efforts undertaken at the College level to support ACES research.

If you work at a unit on campus and are interested in hosting a Career Exploration Fellow in Spring 2025 or later, please contact us at gradsuccess@illinois.edu.

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be enrolled in good standing in a PhD, DMA, EdD, or AudD program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
  • Applicants must be graduating May 2025 or after.
  • During Spring 2025, Career Exploration Fellows may not hold more than a 25% appointment (or equivalent) in addition to their hourly position and Fellowship. Any additional employment must be confirmed in advance by the Graduate College. The number of hours a Fellow can work at their host site may be impacted by visa status.
  • At the finalist phase, applicants must confirm their participation with their advisor or Director of Graduate Studies before they can be selected.
  • Career Exploration Fellowship activities typically happen primarily in-person, on campus. (If you will be working remotely during Spring 2025, you are still eligible to apply though host units may consider that when making their decisions. If you will need to work remotely, please indicate it in your response to question 20.)
  • Career Exploration Fellows must commit to attending eight to ten 90-minute professional development sessions hosted by the Graduate College Career Development office throughout the Spring semester.

Application

Applications consist of the following items:

  • A completed application form
  • A professional resume (see this handout for more information about resumes, and consider making a career advising appointment to work on yours)
  • Fellowship Application Statements
    • Statement 1: How will the Career Exploration Fellowship contribute to your career and professional development? How could it help you clarify or pursue your goals? (500 words max)
    • Statement 2: A key part of the Career Exploration Fellowship is a collaborative professional development seminar, during which participants share with and learn from one another. In this response, 1) describe your commitment to diversity and inclusion in the academic, professional, or civic realm through your work experience, volunteer engagement, or leadership of student or community organizations, and 2) discuss how that commitment will help you contribute to the intellectual and collaborative community of the Fellowship. (500 words max)
  • Host Site Selection Statements
    • Rank your top 3 host sites
    • Statements 1-3: Why are you interested in each of the host sites you ranked? (3-4 sentences per site)
    • Statement 4: What are some of the key skills, experiences, or perspectives that you would bring to your host site? What strengths have helped you succeed in previous academic or professional experiences? (300 words max)
    • Statement 5: What are some skills you would like to develop or refine during your work with a host site? (300 words max)

In order to provide more comprehensive answers to these questions, we encourage you to to use tools that can help you reflect on your career goals. Consider engaging with individual development plans (like myIDP or ImaginePhD) or self-assessments (like our skills worksheet and values worksheet).

Applications are due by 11:59 PM Central on Thursday, October 17.

Apply Here

Questions?

Contact us at gradsuccess@illinois.edu.