Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
What will be my contact address at UIUC?
You may use the Biophysics office address as a contact address. You will have a departmental mailbox just outside the office, until you establish a lab. Once you have joined a lab, your mail can go to your lab address, or you can continue to pick it up here. The address is:
Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
156 Davenport Hall, MC-147
607 S Mathews Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
What about housing accommodations at UIUC?
There are several housing options on campus. You may stay in graduate dorms, family student housing, or you can rent your own apartment. You may contact Graduate Halls Contracts Office, and they will send you information about roommates, etc. Single rooms in the graduate dorms run: $4032 (Sherman Hall) to $5084 (Daniels Hall) per academic year (Aug-May). The rooms are sparsely furnished (a bed, desk and chair) and do NOT allow you to cook in the rooms. You can get a meal pass (from $1700-$4950/academic year...depending on how many meals you wish to eat), which allows you to eat at the dorm cafeteria. I hear the food's not too bad. = ] And the area is full of fast food restaurants if you get tired of dorm food!
If you prefer, you can stay in campus apartments. Orchard Downs Apartments (off-campus) have one-bedroom furnished apartments for $576 per month (unfurnished for $479/month). The Goodwin-Green Apartments (located right on campus) offer one-bedroom non-furnished apartments for $690 per month. You can also get sleeping rooms there for $497 or efficiency rooms for $582 per month.
You can also rent an apartment on or off campus. Rents can run anywhere from $350-$1,500/month, depending on the kind of apartment you want and if you have a roommate or two. Rents for a 1-bedroom, unfurnished apartment usually average $500-$700/mth. I think for convenience, staying the in graduate dorms for the first year can be good. It gives you the opportunity to look for an apartment you like and in your price range, without having to rush to find one when you first arrive in town, and it will give you the opportunity meet graduate students in other departments across campus.
To find out more about UIUC housing visit their web site at: www.housing.uiuc.edu (email: housing@uiuc.edu ; phone: 217-333-7111). If you want to sign up for UIUC housing in the residence halls, you should call: 217-333-7111. If you are interested in the University apartments, you should call 217-333-5656 (email: famhous@uiuc.edu)
You can contact certhsg@uiuc.edu (or call 217-333-1420) for Certified University Housing or visit their website at http://certified.housing.uiuc.edu for available private apartments in the area that are "certified" by UIUC.
There are also lots of other apartments available in town, but those you would have to search for once you arrived in town. You may wish to check the local newspaper, The News-Gazette, for listings. The News-Gazette classified website is at www.news-gazette.com/classifieds. I would also suggest that you contact the Champaign-Urbana Tenants Union University of Illinois Office at 217-333-0112, or visit their website, when you start to look for housing in the community (http://tenant.net/Other_Areas/Illinois/CUTU/cutuhtm.html ). They have information on landlords and any complaints that may have been filed against them. This helps you avoid getting into apartments with problem landlords before you sign a lease!!
A few students actually purchase homes in the area while attending graduate school. Over the past few years, housing rates in Champaign-Urbana have continued to climb, so when you are ready to sell after graduation, you may make a small profit from the sale of your house. I strongly suggest getting a good realtor to help you locate that perfect home your price range and in a good location. Location is everything, they say!
What type of appointment will I hold?
In your first semester in the Program, you will most likely receive a fellowship. Once you join a lab, you will most likely be appointed as a 50% research assistant. 50% is considered a full-time assistantship. Because you are a student first and foremost, you cannot hold a 100% assistantship. With a 50% appointment, you are expected to work 20 hours a week. The first semester your "work" will be rotating through three Biophysics faculty laboratories, in order to make an informed decision on the research group you will join at the end of the semester. After that, your 20 hours will be spent working in your lab on experiments, etc. (though you may work more than 20 hours, depending on the advisor). Your appointment is considered "renewable", which means you will continue to be appointed as a RA, as long as you remain in good academic standing. For a minimum of one semester, you will be appointed as a teaching assistant (TA).
As long as you hold a fellowship or a 50% assistantship of some sort, you will receive a tuition waiver. Graduate students will be responsible for about $600 in fees each semester, but not the $6000++ in tuition payments.
What is the average expenditure per month (lodging + food + other essential charges)?
Depending on the lodging you chose (see above) and the way you will handle your meals (dorm cafeteria or fast food restaurants), your expenses can vary widely. All students are expected to pay fees each semester (16 weeks) to cover health insurance, services, etc. which runs between $600-$700. And there will be textbooks and supplies to purchase. The rest of your expenses depend on your lifestyle. If you eat at fancy restaurants, it will be more expensive to live. (We have a WIDE variety of foods in town for all different budgets.) Sorry I can't give you a more definite answer on this, as there are just too many variables to take into account. Most students in Biophysics can live fairly comfortably on their monthly stipends...which will be approximately $2000 a month before taxes for the 2006-07 academic year.
How much money should I bring with me to UIUC? When will I be paid?
You should bring enough money to cover living expenses through September 16, when your first check should arrive (provided there are no unforeseen problems that may arise!). All graduate students are paid once a month, on the 16th of each month. If the 16th falls on a weekend or holiday, you will be paid the Friday (or last working day) before the 16th.
Most apartments require a deposit of at least 2 months rent. Other start-up costs can add up quickly, especially if you are stocking a kitchen with food and purchasing personal hygiene products. Remember to take those costs into consideration when deciding your initial budgetary needs.
When will I have the health insurance?
Once you register for classes and pay your fees, you will be covered by University health insurance, unless you decide to provide your own. Graduate students also have dental insurance and vision care insurance available to them, much like that given to UIUC employees.
Are there any student organizations that may be able to help me get settled?
Registered student organizations come and go so quickly, depending on their membership any given semester. There are a wide variety of organizations on campus. You can contact the Registered Organizations Office at 217-333-1153 or see their website at
http://www.union.uiuc.edu/involvement/rso/a-z_list.aspx
for contact names and email addresses. You may wish to contact the organization that relates to your home country (for example: the Indian Students Association or the Chinese Students Association), as I understand they can be very helpful to new international students.
What is the general climate in CU?
The summers (approximately June-September) in Champaign-Urbana are usually hot and humid. Temps of 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit (F), with 90-100% humidity, and dew points in the upper 60's-low 70's are common. With the dew points/humidity (which measures the amount of moisture in the air) factored into the temperature, the temps can feel like upper 90's-100+ degrees F. The winters (approximately November-March) can be very cold, with temps generally around 15-30 degrees F. Wind chill -- the way the wind affects the temperature -- can make the temperature feel like 15-30 degrees below 0 F!!! (We had a wind chill of -60 degrees…yes, that is a minus sign in front of the 60…in the winter of 1999. Brrrrr!) The spring and autumn are my favorite times of year. During those seasons, the temps range from 50-70 degrees F during the days and with evening temps around 40-60 degrees. Just about as perfect as you can get.
Our average rainfall in a year is 37 inches, and the average snowfall is 26 inches. Don't worry, it usually doesn't all come at one time! However, the winter of 1999 proved we can have 14 inches of snow at once, and have record lows associated with it (-25 degrees F). The good news is that this kind of occurrence happens only once every 20 years or so. The snow is beautiful when it first falls, then can get pretty slushy and dirty before it melts. We occasionally have ice storms, where the rain or snow turns to ice upon contact with anything (roads, sidewalks, trees, cars...), then the sun comes out and melts it all away!
Luckily, the extreme weather, either hot or cold, usually lasts only a day or two -- a week at most. So, enjoy the wide range of weather and the change of seasons. Each has its own beauty which, in time, I hope you can appreciate.
I suggest, since you are arriving in the midst of summer (where it can be unbearably hot), that you bring light weight clothing with you. Most buildings have air conditioning, so you may want to dress in layers which you can shed as the temperature goes up (for example, bring a cardigan with you in case it gets cold inside). Closer to the fall/winter months, you should invest in a heavy winter coat, hat, scarf, and a good pair of gloves to help keep you warm.
What is the mean time required for a doctorate degree in biophysics at UIUC?
We allow up to 5 years for you to complete a Ph.D. in Biophysics and Computational Biology, and most students are able to finish in that amount of time. If you find you need a little more time, you may petition the Graduate College for an extension. The first two years are generally taken up with core coursework and the rest of the time is usually spent in labs and doing research. You must choose your research advisor before the end of your first semester, and you must pass the Biophysics Qualifying Exam (BQE) by the end of your second year.
What can you tell me about the Biophysics Qualifying Examination?
I think it may be a little early to be thinking about the Qualifying Exam, or BQE as it is commonly called, however, I receive a lot of questions on this. You have until the end of your second year to pass this comprehensive exam. The BQE is a 4-hour written exam, consisting of 6 essay problems. You get a choice of 1-3 questions in each of the 3 sections - Experimental Biophysics; Computational Biology; Fundamentals of Biophysics. After the written exam is graded, you will then be asked to participate in an oral exam. The exam is scheduled for at least 30 minutes. You will be questioned on the items you did not do well on in the written exam, and your proposed research. The committee will make the final determination as to whether you passed, based on your performance on both sections of the exam. You will have the opportunity to re-take the exam several times (up to the end of your second year). Most students don't sit for the exam until their second semester in the Program. That way you can take BIOP 401 (Intro to Biophysics) in the fall and begin BIOP 420 (Molecular Biophysics) in the spring semester. Both of these courses are very helpful in the passage of the BQE.
What opportunities do graduates have after completion of their studies?
Here is a short list of what some of our graduates are now doing. We have several recent graduates in industry: Kraft Foods (IL); Intel (CA); Canon (Japan); Siebel Systems; Seagull Technologies (CA) and Eli Lilly (IN). Many are doing post-docs in various universities including: Stanford; Harvard; Princeton; MIT; CalTech; Rockefeller University; University of Chicago; University of Brisbane; University of California-San Francisco; Johns Hopkins; Max-Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics; and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai, PRC. Others are working in major laboratories such as Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research; Sandia National Labs (NM); Lawrence Livermore National Labs (CA); and National Institutes of Health in Maryland. Still other graduates hold teaching positions at universities such as Cornell; Virginia Tech; University of Chicago; University of Kentucky; University of South Carolina; University of Missouri; University of Texas; Escuela Politécnica Nacional (Ecuador); and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This should give you an idea of the many options that are available to our graduating students.
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