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Welcome to the new 2020 PhD Candidates!

October 6, 2020

By Natalie Noles

The UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences, in affiliation with the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, welcomed a new class of doctoral candidates, with 32 students beginning their graduate school experience on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. The class includes seven international students, comprised of scholars from China, Colombia, Mexico, Germany, and Taiwan. Domestic students joined from across the United States, including California, Illinois, Washington, North Carolina, Texas, New York, and Florida.

Welcome Day began via Zoom with remarks from Dean Kit Pogliano, along with an overview of the PhD program from Graduate Committee Chair and Associate Dean Andrew Chisholm, and was completed with a series of administrative and informational sessions. Biological Sciences Boot Camp started the next day, and continued for the next two weeks with lectures, group projects, faculty talks, and the students’ own lunchtime chalk talks. Highlights included laboratory micro-rotations and a physically distanced materials distribution, where student were able to meet Dr. Chisholm and Dr. Wilhelm, Boot Camp Instructor, in person. At the conclusion of Boot Camp, the class participated in the annual retreat, held virtually for 2020, featuring keynote speaker Dr. Paul Turner, and bringing together nearly 200 faculty members, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate students from the Division of Biological Sciences and the Salk Institute. Though all look forward to a time when more in-person interactions will be possible, the resiliency already demonstrated by this courageous cohort will serve them well in the coming years.

Download the 2020-21 PhD student list