Student Opportunities
Upcoming hackathons and competitions Heading link
US Department of Energy Conquer the Hill: Reign Edition Participants should expect to be tested on their knowledge of cybersecurity, computer science, mathematics, cryptography, and critical thinking skills in general. The competition will be 8 hours long and occur on August 6, 2022. The top 3 winners will earn prizes. Registration officially opens on May 30, 2022.
US Department of Energy CyberForce Competition The annual CyberForce Competition will be held as a hybrid competition this year on November 4-5, 2022. Registration will open in early July and close mid-August. All participants of the CyberForce® Program will be invited to join a virtual career fair held in the Fall of 2022. Industry, national laboratories, and federal agencies will be in attendance to recruit for jobs and internships for their agencies.
check here regularly for upcoming events
Internship opportunities Heading link
- Department of Energy’s Advance Manufacturing Office: The DOE is offering paid 10-week summer internships in robotics. Apply by January 25, 2022.
- MedIX: MEDical Informatics eXperiences: The NSF is offering paid 10-week summer internships in interdisciplinary research at the border of information technology and medicine. Internship locations include the Medical Informatics Laboratory at DePaul University and the Imaging Research Institute at the University of Chicago. Apply by March 4.
- Argonne National Laboratory internships: Visit the lab’s Graduate Programs or Undergraduate Programs pages for further information. There are multiple internship programs in different fields, and application requirements and dates may vary for each.
Scholarships Heading link
Chris Jackson Computer Science Education Scholarship: This $5,000 scholarship is awarded to a new recipient every six months. Applicants will be required to discuss their interest in pursuing a computer science degree, their career aspirations, and why they think they should receive the award. Learn more, find out the next available application deadline, and submit your application here.
Why do hackathons? Heading link
We strongly encourage UIC CS students to sign up for hackathon competitions. Here are some reasons why:
- Meeting new people. Not just potential employers—who might watch a hackathon for potential new hires—but also fellow students.
- Developing your résumé. Hackathons let you showcase the skills you’ve developed in class and build some new ones.
- Enhancing your job interviews. Hackathons make you a more interesting interviewee. You can talk about how you approached a problem, the solutions you considered, and which skills you brought to the table.
- Winning! (Of course.)
More on hackathons Heading link
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info here
UIC students have placed highly in these hackathon events:
- BuiltWorlds Hackathon 2019: Riccardo Pressiani, Matteo Foglio, Guido Muscioni, Francesco Sgherzi, Chiara Gambacorta, and Giulia Soresini, Grand Prize
- Google Tech Challenge 2019: 3rd place, 5th place
- MIT Energy Hack 2018: Chirag Soni, MS ’19
- BuiltWorlds Hackathon 2018: Giovanni Agugini Bassi, Iacopo Olivo, and Francesco Pinci, all MS ’19
- Mobility Hackathon Chicago: The Roiti (team of five MS ’19 students)
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Heading link
Research experiences for undergraduates—called REUs for short—offer undergraduate students the opportunity to complete career-building research projects over the summer. REUs are competitive (with students chosen for the research positions by application) and often are held at universities other than your home institution. Most REUs are sponsored with funding from the National Science Foundation and typically come with a stipend that you can use to cover living expenses and other costs. Other REUs are offered by various government agencies and non-profits.
REUs make excellent résumé entries and offer valuable hands-on experience that you can talk about in job interviews. If you have your eye on a master’s degree or PhD after graduation, REUs provide a head start on building your research experience and could give you insight on what you might like to pursue in graduate school.
Think of REUs as a great way to get research experience while trying out living in a different place.