April 6 – 10, 2026
Graduate and professional students make a broad and diverse set of contributions to UW–Madison and the wider community. As one way of recognizing these contributions, the Graduate School celebrates Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week.
The celebration includes fun events in collaboration with schools, colleges, and campus partners; awards ceremonies recognizing graduate student excellence; and stories highlighting the many ways graduate and professional students make an impact.
Events
Gather with fellow graduate and professional students for a quick break or a fun activity at these Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week events.
Featured Events
Monday, April 6: Donuts & Coffee Power Hour at Steenbock & Memorial Libraries and Optimize Your Process: A Research Tool Workshop for Humanists & Social Scientists
Tuesday, April 7: Bridge & Build Community: Refill & Recharge – Coffee, Calm, and Connection
Wednesday, April 8: Health & Wellness – Connect with UHS/MHS and Graduate Student Trivia Night
Thursday, April 9: School/College/Program Appreciation Events
Friday, April 10: Graduate Student Coffee with the Deans (three locations across campus: Agriculture Hall, Health Sciences Learning Center, and Engineering) and Graduate Student Climbing Night at Bakke
All Upcoming Events
- April
- April 6
- April 6
- April 6Donuts & Coffee Power Hour at Steenbock & Memorial Libraries10:00 AM, Steenbock Library, 2nd floor and Memorial Library, Room 464
- April 6
- April 7
- April 7
Celebrations and Shout-Outs
UW–Madison graduate and professional students are incredible, making contributions big and small to the campus community. These stories and shout-outs reflect a few of the ways graduate and professional students make UW–Madison a great place to be.
Kudos to graduate & professional students!
Everyone in the campus community can contribute to the appreciation week Kudoboard to recognize the graduate and professional students in their lives. Graduate and professional students, make sure to check out all of the kudos you’ve received!
Graduate students in the news
Awards
UW–Madison sponsors many awards to recognize excellent graduate students. Celebrations for these awards coincide with Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week.
Campus-wide Teaching Assistant Awards
In order to recognize excellence on the part of TAs across campus, each year the Graduate School, with administrative and financial assistance from the College of Letters & Science and the Morgridge Center, sponsors awards for exceptional teaching by graduate students.
TA Awards Ceremony:
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
3 – 5 pm
By invitation only.
Graduate Peer Mentor Awards
The Graduate Student Peer Mentor Awards recognize graduate students who exhibit stellar mentorship qualities. These graduate students are selected based on their ability to mentor undergraduate and/or graduate students, on or off campus.
Bucky Awards Ceremony:
Sunday, April 12, 2026
6 – 8:30 pm
Varsity Hall, Union South
Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring
This award for faculty recognizes those who demonstrate exceptional commitment to supporting the growth, success, and well-being of UW–Madison graduate students. It highlights faculty whose engagement goes beyond standard advising expectations and reflects exemplary, evidence-based mentoring practices.
Faculty Awards for Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring
Monday, April 13, 2026
3 – 5 pm
Tripp Commons, Memorial Union
Questions? Contact gspd@grad.wisc.edu.