Younger Chemists Committee

The Professor Peter Beak Graduate Travel Scholarship is an annual award administered by YCC to support professional development. In most cases, two awardees will be selected and up to $1,500 will be provided to cover conference and traveling costs. All chemistry graduate students at UIUC are eligible and encouraged to apply. Please email eci.ycc@gmail.com for more information.

Eligibility:

• You have presented (or will present) your research at a conference.
• The award may be supplemented by additional funds from your advisor.
• You must provide a cost estimate including travel, lodging, registration, etc.
• Applications are collected starting from the Fall semester.

Criteria evaluated for the award:

• Scientific merit of abstract.
• Need and/or if this is the attendee’s first conference, job searching etc.
• Extracurricular activities, volunteering, mentoring, etc.
• Participation in YCC events (recommended but not required).
• Research accomplishments.

YCC organizes an annual industry tour for graduate students and local professionals to visit local industry sites and network with industry members. YCC is involved in organizing the transportation and schedule of a day trip to the company. Past tours include visiting Abbvie in Chicago (2023), Corteva in Indianapolis (2022), Monsanto in St. Louis (2018).

We hold several community outreach events over the year for different audiences (middle-schoolers, undergraduates, community college students, etc.). Parkland Shadowing Day is an annual outreach event which invites Parkland Community College students to shadow graduate researchers at the UIUC campus and learn more about our research. This event provides an opportunity for students who are interested in graduate school to learn more about what that entails.

YCC organizes social events throughout the year to foster community and build networks.
Some of these events include coffee breaks, new student welcome events, and recruiting days.
For some of these events, the YCC collaborates with the Women’s Chemists Committee.