Graduate Student Resources

COVID-19 Communications Committee for Doctoral Students and Postdoctoral Researchers

We have formed a Communications Committee for Doctoral Students and Postdoctoral Researchers. This committee will meet as long as the COVID-19 crisis requires virtual operations, on a roughly biweekly basis.  The names and contact information of all members are given in the directory, below. Committee membership includes representation of doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, graduate coordinators and chair, and leading staff from Research and Academic Services, and from the Dean’s office. Please reach out to any of us with concerns.

The aim of this communications committee is to ensure strong communication and to identify needs and strategies to support doctoral student and postdoctoral researchers on several fronts during this crisis, including:

  • Doctoral student and postdoctoral research community’s emotional and mental health.
  • Doctoral student progress in programs and individual projects.
  • Postdoctoral research progress in their projects.
  • Interact with those who encounter challenges in climate, communication or support.

We will also foster discussions as senior doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars plan for their future endeavors in this new landscape. Further, we are open to responding to needs that arise and that are brought to light in discussions with our broader communities.

SLACK channel: 

https://join.slack.com/t/upennseascomms/shared_invite/zt-deatokx0-3U4lvFbWQv0YpfDQc0Mc3Q

This link is the link for the default channel #general

  1. One can register to other channels. This is done in the left column, in the option “channel browser”
  2. There are six channels set up for each department. You can join the appropriate channels for your associated department/s and discuss departmental issues with your peers.

If you do not have slack installed on your PC you need to download it

Links here: mac: https://slack.com/downloads/mac

windows: https://slack.com/downloads/windows

linux: https://slack.com/downloads/linux

Directory of committee members

Doctoral student representatives

Doctoral student representatives include all members of the Dean’s Doctoral Advisory Committee and the Doctoral Board on Diversity and Inclusion.  These boards include at least two students from each department, with some overlap between the boards.   Lists of board membership and emails are below:

Dean’s Doctoral Advisory Board

Jason Andrechak BE jandrech@seas.upenn.edu
Erin Berlew BE erinber@seas.upenn.edu
Divya Jain BE jdivya@seas.upenn.edu
Jessica O’Callaghan CBE jaoc@seas.upenn.edu
Bharath Venkatesh CBE rbharath@seas.upenn.edu
Yiyuan (Daniel) Zhang CBE yiz517@seas.upenn.edu
Meghna Gummadi CIS meghnag@seas.upenn.edu
Daphne Ippolito CIS daphnei@seas.upenn.edu
Zachary Schutzman CIS ianzach@seas.upenn.edu
     
Michael D’Agati ESE mdagati@seas.upenn.edu
Tzu-Yung Huang ESE tzuhuang@seas.upenn.edu
Kendall Queen ESE queen@seas.upenn.edu
Mohsen Azadi MEAM azadi@seas.upenn.edu
Chengyang Mo MEAM chengymo@seas.upenn.edu
Ranny Zhao MEAM rannyz@seas.upenn.edu
Ben Paren MSE bparen@seas.upenn.edu
Simeon Ristic MSE sristic@seas.upenn.edu
Antoine Verret MSE vverret@seas.upenn.edu

Doctoral Board on Diversity and Inclusion

Oladayo Adewole BE oadewole@seas.upenn.edu
Jonathan Nukpezah BE nukpezah@sas.upenn.edu
Wilfredo Mendez CBE wmendez@seas.upenn.edu
Alismari Read CBE aread@seas.upenn.edu
Phillip Hilliard CIS pdh@seas.upenn.edu
Joel Hypolite CIS jhypolit@seas.upenn.edu
Fernando Gama ESE fgama@seas.upenn.edu
Tzu-Yung Huang ESE tzuhuang@seas.upenn.edu
Raj Patel ESE rajnp@seas.upenn.edu
Kendall Queen ESE queen@seas.upenn.edu
Rossiny Beaucejour MEAM rossiny@seas.upenn.edu
Jason Christopher Jolly MSE chrjason@seas.upenn.edu
Larissa Woryk MSE lworyk@seas.upenn.edu

Postdoctoral representative  

Dimitrios C. Tzarouchis, ESE dtz@seas.upenn.edu

Graduate coordinator representatives

Maryeileen B. Griffith, MEAM, mebg@seas.upenn.edu

Kathleen Venit, BE,  kvenit@seas.upenn.edu

Graduate Academic Council representatives

Yale Cohen, BE, ycohen@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Research and Academic Services and other SEAS representatives

Alyse Edwards (RAS)  aedwards@seas.upenn.edu

Sonya Gwak (RAS)  sgwak@seas.upenn.edu

Bradley Richards (SEAS) rbrad@upenn.edu

Dean’s office representatives

Boon Thau Loo, Associate Dean, boonloo@seas.upenn.edu

Professional Development Workshops

Throughout the academic year, the Office for Research and Innovation hosts a series of workshops designed to provide graduate students and postdocs with a richer understanding of what it is like pursuing careers both in academia and industry. Workshops featured include, “The Joy of Being Faculty: How I Devised my Research Program,” “Commercialization and How to Pursue a Career in Industry,” and, “The Joy of Being Faculty: How to Apply for a Faculty Position.”