EGSA at Illinois

Champaign-Urbana (C-U) is located in east-central Illinois. It is approximately 2 hours away from Chicago, 2 hours away from Indianapolis, and 3 hours away from St. Louis. C-U is large enough to not feel like a tiny town, but small enough to not feel overwhelmed! You can read more about C-U here

C-U is very bike-friendly with bike lanes in most places. The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD)offers a great bus service around both Champaign and Urbana, and is free for students! Many graduate students ride their bikes or take an MTD bus to travel to and from campus. If you like to drive, campus parking passes are available through University Parking Services.

1. Urbana Market at the Square and Champaign Farmer’s Market

   From May through November, an exceptional farmer’s market pops up every Saturday from 7:00 AM – noon. You can find produce, meat, dairy, honey, flowers, handmade arts and crafts all from local growers and artisans. If you miss Market at the Square, you can stop by the Champaign Farmer’s Market on Tuesdays from 3:30-6:30 pm.

2. Outdoor Activities:

   There are many parks scattered around C-U or in the surrounding areas including Allerton Park (http://allerton.illinois.edu/) with its sculpture gardens and scenic walking trails. Kickapoo State Park (https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/Parks/Pages/Kickapoo.aspx), a 30 minute drive away, is nice for hikes, canoeing, camping and many other outdoor activities. There are also many other state parks within a 2 hour drive.

3. Arts and Culture:

   Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has a great program every year including many free events.

   The Virginia Theater also has many concerts and other events throughout the year including the annual Ebertfest: Roger Ebert’s Film Festival.

   The city also hosts the Pygmalion Festival every year, which is a multi-faceted, week-long cultural festival with music, tech, literature, and food components.

4. Sports:
   The University of Illinois is a part of the Big Ten Conference. Tailgating before football games is very popular especially with the opening of Grange Grove in fall 2016. Men’s basketball games are also very popular sporting events to attend on campus. If you are looking to participate in sporting events, there are a number of options for you. You can join an intermural league through the University, or you can join a sport through the Champaign Park District (CPD). CPD offers a variety of sports throughout the year (as well as a ton of other programs).
5. Restaurants, Bars, and Food Trucks:
   C-U does not lack for restaurants. From fried chicken to pizza to sushi to vegan, C-U’s eclectic and abundant choices will suit everyone’s taste buds!

   C-U also do not lack for nightlife opportunities! There are many bars in downtown Champaign and downtown Urbana, as well as many bars along Green St. near campus (known as Campus Town). There are also many local breweries located in C-U including Tripych, Riggs, The Blind Pig to name a few.

   C-U also has a vibrant food truck scene ranging from Burrito King to Chester’s BBQ to Cracked, which was featured on the Big Ten Network and was named best food truck in Illinois worth travelling for by Flipket’s 50 State Series. There is even a lunchtime Food Truck Rally in Urbana on the last Tuesday of each month from April-October.

The cost of living varies depending on where in C-U you choose to live and what level of comfort you are accustomed to, but generally, C-U is a pretty affordable place to live. Here are some general prices you can expect to pay for various living expenses (updates 2017):

– Rent, 1BR apartment…………. $550-$650/month
– Student health insurance…….$409
– Mixed drink………………………..$4.50-$7.50
– Symphony ticket………………..$5-$10 (student discount)
– UIUC football ticket…………….$10-$40 (depending on seat location)
– Renting in C-U: There are many apartments, condos and homes for rent in C-U. There are also many co-ops in the area. You can search for a place to live through various rental agencies online or you can use Chamana.craigslist.org and search for apartments/houses for rent.

Interview weekend is usually the last weekend of February, which is when we host the annual Insect Fear Film Festival or IFFF.

Before applying to the Department, you should email any professor you are interested in working with to make sure they have openings in their lab and that your research interests align with the professor’s interests. You should be familiar with the research conducted by your prospective advisor.

During interview weekend, you will have the opportunity to meet with your prospective advisor for a one-on-one meeting. You should have questions prepared about:
– Research projects being conducted in the laboratory
– Expectations your prospective advisor has for you as a graduate student
– Potential projects you will conduct during your time as a student in the lab
– Amount of time the advisor spends with his/her students (Are there weekly lab meetings?, Are there weekly/monthly individual meetings?, etc.)
– Have graduate students in the lab published in respected journals? Are the students ever the senior authors on these publications?
– What is the level of collaboration between graduate students in the lab?
– How you will be funded in the lab (TAs, RAs, fellowships, etc.) especially in the summer

You will meet with many members of the department during your visit. It is a good idea to look up each professor on your itinerary in order to be familiar with each professor’s research area, and have questions prepared to ask. These questions can be range from their research, their experience in the department, to life in Champaign-Urbana.

You will meet the graduate students that are currently in your prospective advior’s lab as well as many other students in the department during your visit. All prospective students will have an opportunity on Friday night to go out with current grad students. This is a great opportunity to ask current students about their experiences within the department, living in Champaign-Urbana, and any other questions about graduate school you may have.

If you have any questions, you can also contact the GSAC Representative (contact info can be found on the EGSA website).

There are 5 core courses offered by the department:

– IB 427: Insect Physiology
– IB 444: Insect Ecology
– IB 468: Classification and Evolution of Insects
– IB 482: Fundamentals of Insect Pest Management
– IB 504: Genomic Analysis of Insects

Core courses are typically completed during the first 2 years of study.

Masters students are required to complete 4 core courses, and doctoral students are required to complete all 5 core courses.

Doctoral students are also required to complete 3 seminars in 3 of 7 different subject areas (either the subject areas covered by the core courses or in toxicology or behavior), as well as, prove competency in statistics. This is typically done by taking statistics courses.

The Department of Entomology sponsors its own weekly colloquium series each semester. All students are required to attend the weekly seminar where invited speakers present research on a board range of entomological topics. There are plenty of opportunities to meet with each speaker including lunch with the speaker the day of the seminar, a meet-and-greet coffee break before the seminar, and refreshments afterwards.

The Department of Entomology makes every effort to see that students in the program who are making satisfactory progress towards their degrees have adequate support. The support may come from:

– research or teaching assistantships

– grants or awards from foreign governments

– grants or funds from domestic agencies or foundations that are awarded directly to the student

– grants or awards that are given by or through the University of Illinois

– other means

Students admitted to the Master’s program will ordinarily be supported for 2 years.

Students admitted directly to the Ph.D. program with a Master’s degree from another institution will ordinarily be supported for 4 years.

Students who are admitted to the Ph.D. program after having been in the Master’s program within the Department will ordinarily be supported for a maximum of 4 years beyond the 2 years of support already granted for the Master’s work, for a total of 6 years of support.