So much has changed in 2021 compared to 2020 – new vaccines, new President, new Provost, new Netflix obsession (remember Tiger King? That was like a Bridgerton and two British Baking Shows ago, right?).

[Image Description: Joe exotic, from Tiger King, removed his sunglasses and squints out at the viewer.]

Pictured: You, taking in all the changes of the last year

But, one important thing remains the same: GradSuccess will be here to serve you remotely over Summer with programs to help you prepare fellowship applications, brush up on your stats and programming skills, and stay in touch with your fellow grad students. Read on to learn what’s in store as we look forward to seeing you again (we hope in person!) in the Fall…

Fellowship Writing Support

[Image Description: An orange tabby cat flips sunglasses with gold dollar signs onto its eyes before looking into the camera.]

Pictured: You, seeing dollar signs with every fellowship application you submit

Fulbright Program

The Fulbright Program offers opportunities for master’s and Ph.D. students to conduct research or teach English abroad; the application is currently open for the 2022-23 academic year. The GradSuccess Fulbright support program consists of five Zoom workshops offered between May 27th and July 29th. These workshops provide an overview of the Fulbright program itself, access to applications from prior award cycles, detailed guidance on writing your statement of purpose and personal statement, and feedback from the UCR Graduate Fulbright Program Advisor.

Ford Predoctoral Program

The Ford Predoctoral Program consists of six Zoom workshops offered between July 12th and September 3rd. These workshops will give an overview of Ford programs, a discussion of successful applications from previous cycles, and guidance on writing the previous research statement, proposed plan, and personal statement. Participants are also guaranteed access to trained Graduate Writing Center consultants in the form of three one-on-one Skype feedback sessions. This program has an excellent track record for students going on to receive awards and honorable mentions at UCR.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Like the Ford Predoctoral Program, the GradSuccess NSF GRFP Program consists of six Zoom workshops offered between July 12th and September 3rd. This will provide you with an overview of the NSF Fellowships, in-depth guidance on writing your personal and research statements, peer review, and discussion of successful applications from previous cycles. Like the Ford program, participants are guaranteed access to trained Graduate Writing Center consultants in the form of three one-on-one Skype feedback sessions. Also like the Ford program, this program has an excellent track record for students going on to receive NSF GRFP awards!

If you are a currently enrolled graduate student and you’d like to participate in any of these fellowship preparation programs, fill out our interest form by May 24th.

Statistics and Programming Bootcamp

[Image Description: Lisa, from The Simpsons, claps her hands together and says joyfully, "Oh, math, I have missed you!"]

Pictured: You, about to jump into that first day of the Statistics and Programming Bootcamp 

GradQuant’s Statistics and Programming Bootcamp will teach you the basics of descriptive and inferential statistics, demonstrate some of their applications, and get you introduced to R programming language. This workshop series will help prepare you to take graduate-level statistical methods courses and to excel in your own research. There are absolutely NO prerequisites for this bootcamp – it is designed to take you from wherever you are now to a place where you feel confident in your ability to apply statistics and programming concepts.

The bootcamp will run between July 12th and September 3rd and will consist of a two-hour Zoom workshop once a week. Each workshop will apply to a range of scientific fields, so there will always be something for you. This is a small class environment with no homework and no exams, so you can learn a lot without stress! You will have ample access to the instructor and to GradQuant resources and will develop tools to help you throughout your research career, both during and after graduate school.

If you are a currently enrolled graduate student and you’d like to participate in the Statistics and Programming Bootcamp, fill out our interest form by May 24th.

Staying in Virtual Touch

[Image Description:  Lola Carmichael, from All Rise, asks, "Explain to me why we all feel the need to wave at the end of these Zoom meetings!"]

Pictured: What we're all thinking...

GradSuccess will continue its weekly virtual coffee socials (with gift card giveaways!) this summer on Wednesdays 3-4pm from July 14th through September 1st. In addition to coffee socials, GradSuccess will also host its popular online game nights during the weeks of July 19th and August 16th and offer another fun Art Night drawing class during the week of August 2nd (dates TBD – follow us on social media to stay up to date!). Writing Center consultations and GradQuant drop-in hours will be available starting July 12th too.

It has been amazing and inspiring this past year to watch you reinvent your teaching, research, and ways of being in the world in response to this pandemic and national movements for racial justice, police reform, and a more equitable and inclusive world. While it is our intention to continue offering some remote and hybrid programming options during the 2021-22 academic year, it is my sincere hope that this is the last blog post I’ll write hyping an *entirely* remote set of services and programs. It has been incredible to connect with you over Zoom and the other online platforms that have made the past year bearable, but we really miss seeing you all in person. Looking forward to serving you some Stress Relief Fair tacos in 2022!

 

[Image Description: A person holds two plates in their hands, one with four corn tortillas resting on the plate.. As we watch, the person scoops up two spatula's worth of grilled meat to fill the tacos.]

Pictured: Stress Relief Fair tacos, oh how we have missed you