Lilly Hall adds modern workspace for graduate students

Graduate students in the colleges of Agriculture, Science, and Health and Human Sciences who work in Lilly Hall of Life Sciences are invited to use a newly remodeled workspace to support their research.

The LILY 2400 suite is a 4,200-square-foot space formerly occupied by Purdue Libraries that had a major refresh over the summer.

According to Donna Ahlen, assistant director for academic facilities, the space has been revitalized to address Lilly Hall’s lack of quality workspaces for graduate students.

“The graduate students who are working in this building needed some desk space, collaboration space and hangout space that isn’t always able to be provided by the faculty they’re working for,” Ahlen said. “We thought we’d work collaboratively with these different groups to provide a bright and cheerful space for the grad students.”

The suite houses approximately 60 workspaces and 45 lockers, and Ahlen said up to 200 graduate students can utilize the space in its current layout.

“Students in this space don’t always work on an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. They’re cycling out to go to class and to the lab; they work after hours,” Ahlen said. “In the case of the College of Agriculture, they could be out in the literal field during part of the day. We hope that this space will be exciting and buzzing with activity.”

“This space is meant to be a hub to support all the graduate researchers working in Lilly,” said Robert Frosch, vice provost for academic facilities. “It is meant to be a vibrant, modern workspace that will enable intellectual collaborations and create new and unforeseen opportunities.”

While there are still some final details to be completed, the space is ready for graduate students to use starting this semester.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a research institution ranked among the top 10 public universities in the United States. More than 111,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. As a land-grant university committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free.