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Sharing PhD experiences across the University of Warwick and beyond

How to Write an Academic Bio for Conferences

There are very few things as challenging as writing academic biographies (perhaps academic writing?). It seems simple, but things soon get awkward as you try to show how amazing you are without sounding arrogation or pretentious. Sophie shares her tips on writing a balanced bio…

It’s all going swimmingly until you read the Call for Papers: Please submit a proposal and brief bio.

What on earth is a bio (otherwise known as an ‘academic bio’)? And just how brief does it need to be? Writing an academic bio is a skill you can pick up like any other, and this article will take you through the basics of what to include, what to leave out, and how to craft this tricky piece of your academic arsenal.

Covering the Basics

Whatever discipline you’re working in, you’ll definitely need to include the following in your academic bio:

•  full name,
• position (i.e. PhD student; PhD candidate),
• institution.

All this should go into the first sentence, so it reads something like this:

Joe Bloggs is currently a PhD candidate [meaning he’s passed his upgrade] at the University of Warwick.

You can also mention your department, although it’s not strictly necessary for most of us.

The Big Picture

The rest of your academic bio should tell the reader about your research interests. Start by setting out your broad research question , whether that’s finding new ways to create Omega 3 in algae cultures or exploring fashion statements at Charles II’s court. Then focus it further; are you looking at a specific type of algae culture, or a particular poet who was into fashion? This is the most important part of your bio: it tells other people attending the conference where you’re coming from, and may present links between your research areas.

You can end your bio here, or add another sentence situating your research within wider scholarship. Is it important to reference your specific style of criticism, or how you’re leading on from recently-published developments in the field, for example? If it’s important for the theme of the conference, you may wish to add another sentence on the future directions of your research. However, if this isn’t relevant or necessary, feel free to leave it out, especially if you’ve been asked to submit a brief bio – best to keep it brief and stick to your research interests.

What Not to Do

Inevitably, we all do things early in our career/academic life that, with hindsight, make us cringe. To avoid that uncomfortable feeling in the future, four common errors are:

• Treating your bio like a humorous essay : only include a joke if you’re sure it’s really, really funny (maybe check with a straight-talking friend).
• Getting too personal : an academic bio is a chance to make an impression pre-conference, and it may be what people remember you by, so ensure that you stay professional.
• Giving too much information : remember that an academic bio isn’t the same thing as a CV – the conference organisers don’t need to know where you did your undergrad, MA or how much you’ve won in grants.
• Using exclamation marks : your writing should be relatively formal in style, so avoid coming across as too chatty – save your engaging manners for the big presentation day!

One final tip is to use the third person. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but at some conferences, your bio will be read out as an introduction, so personally I prefer to start a sentence like Joe Bloggs above.

What do you think about this approach?

Any more tips for writing academic bios?

Text credits: Sophie Shorland 

Sophie is a PhD student at Warwick, where she’s one of the organisers of the English Department’s annual postgraduate symposium for 2017. You can find out how to get involved in the symposium here , or check their Twitter here .  

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One thought on “ how to write an academic bio for conferences ”.

What a concidence. I’m sending the abstract and the bio for a conference at Warwick

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Student Biographies

Please follow the links to find publications and more information.

Please visit our commencement page for all information regarding the  ceremony for Class of 2024 PhD, DSW, MSW and MSN graduates. 

Fall 2024 On-Campus MSW Application FINAL Deadline: July 16, 2024

PhD Current Student Bios

2024 Doctoral Candidates Seeking Academic Appointment

The USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is pleased to share the background and key research interests of some of our PhD students. Click on a name to view that student's biographical sketch.

Lucinda Adjesiwor, MSW Professional and research interests: child and family welfare; childhood adversity; maltreatment; mental health; substance abuse and behavioral health; parenting; at-risk and vulnerable families; family-based interventions; racial and ethnic minority groups.

Ronna Bañada, LCSW, MSW Professional and research interests: (im)migrant experiences with a focus on undocumented Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) communities; impacts of immigration status on mental health, health, and educational experiences; APIDA ethnic identity formation.

John Bunyi, MFT Professional and research interests: the application of mental health technologies for increasing access to and effectiveness of mental health care for historically marginalized populations; reducing barriers to mental health care for immigrant populations; Filipinx mental health; leveraging big data in mental health care; dissemination and implementation of innovative mental health treatment delivery; mental health treatment for those with disabilities.

Liv Canning, BA   (they/them) Professional and research interests: the utilization of community-based participatory research and mindfulness-based interventions for survivors of sexual assault and within restorative justice contexts.

Adriane Clomax, MSW Professional and research interests: the future of work and the digital economy, workplace climate, workplace culture, workers of color and broad-based employee ownership, military social work.

Jessenia De Leon, BS Professional and research interests: adolescent welfare; juvenile justice; organizational sustainability; organizational capacity; nonprofit organizations; dissemination and implementation science; mental health programs; global mental health; financial stability for nonprofits; staff capability and retention.

Maiya Hotchkiss, BA Professional and research interests: health and safety disparities, particularly among trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals; interpersonal and structural violence; violence prevention and treatment; community-facilitated evidence-based interventions; community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods.

Olga Koumoundouros, MFA Professional and research interests: utilization of evidenced-based policies for violence prevention, intersecting kinds of violence, intersecting kinds of coping, participatory action research, survivor centered voice, trauma informed research models, mixed methods photo voice, health disparity, trauma informed public schools, juvenile justice, community-based environmental justice, engagement as healing practice, community equity, housing justice, low-income communities, guaranteed basic income programs.

Peichen Liu, MSW

Professional and research interests: homelessness, housing policy, supportive housing system, tenant experience in supportive housing system, ethnic minority experience of homelessness and shelter system, housing first model, mixed method research. 

Leticia Morales, MSW Professional and research interests: Latino/a youth, mixed-status families, deportation, and family separation. 

Kiana Naimi, MSW, LCSW

Professional and research interests: children with special healthcare needs; family resilience; parenting; maternal/paternal mental health and wellbeing, post-traumatic growth (PTG); exploration of evidence-based programs and policies for child and family well-being within various domains of society.

Meghana Nallajerla, BA

Professional and research interests:

Rory P. O'Brien, MSW, MPH (they/them) Professional and research interests: policy implementation and evaluation, LGBTQ+ youth mental health, civic engagement, minority stress, public health surveillance methods, community-based participatory research, mixed methods.

Juyoung Park, MSG Professional and research interests: minority aging, social isolation and loneliness in older ethnic minority communities, health disparities among older persons associated with socioeconomic factors, community-based participatory research, elder mistreatment.

Laura Petry, MSW Professional and research interests: homelessness and housing instability among youth and young adults, housing policy and urban planning, housing intervention models, continuums of care, coordinated entry systems, social and inter-organizational networks, spatial analysis and critical GIS, community-based participatory research.

Shaddy Saba, LSW, MA Professional and research interests: etiology and treatment of substance use, mental health disorders, and physical pain; the impact of trauma and adverse experiences on health and well-being; military personnel and veteran behavioral health; biopsychosocial models of health; developmental and affective science; artificial intelligence and technology for behavioral health; contemplative (e.g., mindfulness-based) interventions.

Erika Salinas, MSW Professional and research interests: tribal child welfare; communication and collaboration efforts between traditional and tribal governments regarding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA); compliance with ICWA; strength and resilience within tribal communities; the historical and current effects of Federal Indian policies; cultural approaches to intervention and prevention programs; and inter-generational trauma within tribal communities.

Aubrey Sutherland, MSW

Professional and research interests: assessment of culture/climate within the United States military and veteran populations through a sociological lens with a focus on socialization and deviant behaviors; military sexual trauma (MST), substance abuse, mental health stigma, policy implementation, level of acceptance, United States military and veteran transition.

Tamera Whitesides, MSW

Professional and research interests: utilization of evidence-based practices in child welfare; attachment and treatment of developmental trauma; interpersonal neurobiology; parenting and intergenerational trauma transmission; mindfulness-based interventions; secondary trauma for social workers in child welfare. 

Corinne Zachry, MA Professional and research interests: understanding risk and protective factors for trauma-related mental health disparities in LGBTQ+ individuals, contributions of social policies to mental health disparities for individuals with multiple marginalized identities, community-based intervention research to alleviate exposure to chronic stressors, promotion of LGBTQ+ health equity.

DDes Student Bios

Harvard Doctor of Design students constitute a group of select students with a great variety of research interests. The program is intended for persons who wish to enter teaching, research and advanced careers in the theory and practice of architecture, landscape architecture, urban form and technology; or the analysis and development of cities, landscapes and regions with emphasis on social, economic, ecological, transportation and infrastructural systems. Further, students may wish to conduct research in the area of digital technologies within such context.

In addition to their studies, doctoral candidates are involved in many aspects of the school. Among other activities, they hold Research or Teaching Fellowships and organize speaker series, conferences,and journals.

Click here for recent DDes graduates.

She received an MS in Design & Computation from MIT  (2022) and a BArch from the American University of Sharjah  (2017). Professionally, she has worked at the offices of Diller Scofidio + Renfro , Studio Anne Holtrop , and Benoy . Most recently, Maryam co-curated Bahrain’s National participation, Sweating Assets , at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.

http://www.maryamaljomairi.com/

Sulaiman is a co-founder of Morphospace studio, a multidisciplinary design studio based in Kuwait. He has coordinated and co-directed the design of several digitally-driven projects and interactive installations in Kuwait. He also co-directed the Architectural Association Visiting School (AAVS), a design-and-built workshop for constructing inhabitable pavilions that are digitally designed and manufactured.

Sulaiman holds a Master in Design Studies (MDes) in Technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He also holds a Master of Architecture (MArch) in Emergent Technologies and Design from the Architectural Association and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arizona.

Prior to joining the DDes Program, Rawan worked at multiple landscape architecture offices, such as  Stoss Landscape Urbanism and Sasaki. Her professional work has focused on resilience frameworks around the world including the US, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, with an interest in water as a tool of development and a risk factor to coastal and arid environments. Her past research has explored the aesthetic and political concerns of energy and infrastructure through ecologic narratives with work exhibited around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Rawan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture (B.Arch) from Rhode Island School of Design, and a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture (MLA) and Design Studies (MDes ULE) from Harvard Graduate School of Design with a full scholarship from the Ministry of Higher Education of Kuwait for academic excellence.

She is a recipient of the Harvard Real Estate Grant, The Harvard Conflict and Peace Initiative Grant, The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies Thesis Grant, and The AUC Excellence in Research Award. She is a member of the Climigration Network, The Urban Land Institute, The American Planning Association and the Congress for The New Urbanism.

Her research methodologies include utilizing GIS mapping, R statistical analysis software conducting interviews and empirical on-site observations. Her design tools include Photoshop, InDesign, AutoCAD, Revit and Rhino.

Hamed is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and the Harvard Graduate School of Design, earning degrees in the fine arts, architecture, and urban design. He has previously worked as an architect in Kuwait, Japan, Germany, and the US prior to the establishment of his practice.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Project and Facilities Management from National University of Singapore, a Master in Design Studies with concentration in Energy and Environment from Harvard GSD. Her master’s thesis investigated the use of Phase Change Materials in heating buildings to reduce building energy consumption through a passive manner and was awarded the Daniel L. Schodek Award for Technology and Sustainability in 2020. Her papers have been published in Smart and Sustainable Cities and Buildings and presented in the International Conference of the Architectural Science Association .

Elence interned at Transsolar Germany, Building and Construction Authority Singapore and Arup Shanghai office. She has been involved in multiple national and international projects that aim to design ultra-efficient buildings with less dependence on machines and energy.

Portfolio: https://www.elencechen.com

Painting wall pieces (sometimes canvases) with spray cans(legally) since 2008, Zhan travels around the world creating murals in urban environments. Combining the Chinese building and calligraphy with graffiti murals, he develops his flow of art and co-works with commercial brands and art institutes. He and his crew have been hosting art and graffiti events, exhibitions and lectures around China since 2014.

Somayeh is a trained architect (B.Arch and M.Arch) from Delft University of Technology in the Netherland and holds a Master in Design Studies degree (MDes) in Critical Conservation (with distinction) from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Her masters thesis research “Middle Eastern Immigration Landscape in America” won Harvard ESRI Development Center’s Student of the Year Award in 2014. During her years in the Netherlands, she practiced as an architect at several firms in both Amsterdam and The Hague, where she collaborated on various residential and cultural projects, as well as the design of advanced building envelopes. At Harvard, she has held various appointments as teaching and research fellow.

From 2015-2019, she held a doctoral fellow position at the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen, Germany, working towards her doctoral dissertation.

Prior to joining DDes program, Yona worked at Grayscale Collaborative, an urban design and consulting agency, where she developed her interest in discovering how the different force of social, cultural and economic impacts the society and physical built environment and collaboratively working with communities and clients of multiple backgrounds to build more inclusive and better designed environment.

Yona is also a trained architect as she earned her Bachelor of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago where she later joined Skidmore Owings and Merill (SOM), a multi-disciplinary architecture firm, to work as an architect and an urban designer on various scaled projects, from a skyscraper design to the campus masterplan.

Yona graduated from Harvard GSD in 2019 with Master of Architecture in Urban Design. While at GSD she took on a multiple research projects and teaching assisting, including serving as a professional design assistant at Harvard GSD Extension Education School.

Prior to joining the DDes program, Cameron worked as a Strategy Consultant with Blue Cottage of CannonDesign, helping architects better understand people by translating data into design direction. She also founded the firm’s Research Practice and served as Interim Research Director.

Her work revolves around maximizing the human condition by scientifically exploring relationships with our surroundings. She has published eight articles and presentations in the past four years on several environmental psychology, ergonomics, and architectural industry topics, also serving as peer-reviewer for these journals and organizations.

Cameron holds a Master of Science (M.S.) in Environmental Psychology, with a minor in Information Science, from Cornell University, where she conducted empirical research on dyadic collaboration effectiveness in mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR). She also holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Psychology and Environmental Policy, with a minor in Human Services Management, from Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU). She has advised students in research methods, served as a Teaching Assistant at Cornell, and as a Research Assistant at IWU.

Prior to joining the DDes program, Bert worked together with Harvard GSD’s Office for Urbanization and with landscape architecture offices in Belgium, South Africa, and Norway. He is also the founder of Transpolar Studio, a spatial design practice specializing in landscape architecture, urbanism, and design research in the Arctic and Subarctic regions. Bert earned his Master in Design Studies degree at the Harvard GSD after completing a Master of Landscape Architecture at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. Bert’s recent publications include “Inventing Greenland: Designing an Arctic Nation” (Actar Publishers, 2022) and “The Opening of the Transpolar Sea Route: Logistical, Geopolitical, Environmental, and Socioeconomic Impacts” (Marine Policy Journal, 2020).

Aisha is a recipient of the American Institute of Architects Associates Award, and has been featured in Architect Magazine, ArchDaily, Design Bureau, Apartment Therapy, and the Lifework Blog of iconic furniture company, Herman Miller.

Developing and encouraging the next generation of designers, Aisha founded Future Prep 101: How to Prepare Teens for Design Careers™, a half-day seminar which exposes high school students and their parents to multiple design disciplines.

Aisha is author and illustrator of the children’s book  Who Made My Stuff? Miles Learns About Design, and writer, producer, director of the award-winning film short ROOM. She is also co-founder of the collaborative open screening film platform 100 Minutes. Aisha is also a burgeoning playwright. Her first one act play, FLIP, was part of the 2022 MIT Playwrights Lab.

Aisha is a DDes candidate who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Florida A&M University, and a Master Of Science in Strategic Design and Management from the Parsons School of Design. While at Harvard, Aisha’s research explores how artists and arts-based planning in communities of color can create a framework for healthier and equitable neighborhoods in major US cities.

[email protected] www.aishadb.com

She is the founder of Subversive Gardener , an IF Concept Award winning design project turned non-profit organization that focuses on environmental education, design exploration, and public intervention connected to the guerrilla gardening subculture. Vanessa is also the founder of  Wild Flag Studios , a design studio that creates interactive sculptures and produces art installations for clients worldwide.

Vanessa and her work have been featured in publications including Vogue , The Guardian , Wired , Bloomberg BusinessWeek , Vice , and others, and on networks including CNN and the BBC . Her work has been shown in multiple exhibitions including at the Venice Biennale, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Royal Institution. She has delivered numerous talks about her work, addressing how public interventions act as vehicles that draw awareness to timely social and environmental challenges.

She holds three art and design centric degrees from the Ontario College of Art & Design (BDes), MIT Media Lab and the Royal College of Art (MA RCA).

Johannahoffman.com

Her past research in the Master in Design Studies in Critical Conservation program at the GSD, examines colonial, religious, and cultural practices that together have form contemporary governmental and societal biases towards Nigeria’s urban poor. This research focuses on how heritage and narratives of history and place, and its built environment, can become tools for urban inequality and exclusion.

Esesua has a B.F.A. in Environmental and Interior Design form Syracuse University. She held teaching fellowships at the GSD Urban Planning and Design Department, the Department of History of Art and Architecture, and the General Education Department at Harvard University. She was also a Research Assistant at the Just City Lab, and served as the Logistics Committee Lead for the 2019 Harvard GSD Black in Design Conference.

Her previous research assessed how decentralized energy technologies can be applied in different residential neighborhoods in Seoul and examined mitigation potentials achieved through it. She believes that technologies and open data are essential to achieve greater resilience impacts and realize sustainable built environment design through formulating robust and accurate scenarios. Her research has been supported by the Harvard GSD research grant and was honored to be awarded the Howard T. Fisher Prize in GIS (Graduate category) in 2023.

Prior to joining Harvard GSD, she earned a master’s in urban and regional planning from Seoul National university and worked in the United Nations of Human Settlement climate change unit, and the World Bank as a land and geospatial analyst in the Urban, Resilience, and Land (URL) Global Practice team. While working at the Bank, she has co-authored several policy notes, which are published as part of the World Bank Innovation and technology note series. She has also co-authored KCI (Korea Citation Index) and Scopus (Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Assessment) indexed publications on Heat wave vulnerability mapping and land quality evaluation and has a book chapter published in COVID-19 Pandemic, Geospatial Information, and Community Resilience, among others. More details of her works and projects are accessible on her personal website.

Prior to joining the DDes program, Sang was a researcher at the Empathy in Point Clouds laboratory of Taubman College, researching manipulation and control methods of point clouds as visual data components, receiving generous grants to advance the research forward. Sang was also a research assistant at the Architecture & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory working with instance segmentation and detection models using COCO datasets. Sang worked in the making of “The Doghouse” that was exhibited at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna in 2023. Sang has taught and led multiple courses and workshops relating to fundamentals of computational design, procedural modeling and game engines at the University of Michigan.

Sang earned his Bachelor of Arts in Design from the University of California, Davis and his Master of Architecture with Distinction from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

He is a graduate of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked in the Mediated Matter group with Neri Oxman to produce bio-fabricated structures exhibited in MoMa, SFMoMA and the Cooper Hewitt. Joe received his Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University with a Goodwin Sands thesis prize, the Eidlitz Fellowship, and Cornell Council of the Arts Funds. Additionally, he co-taught a design-build studio at the AHO while completing his Fulbright Fellowship in Oslo.

Joe has held teaching positions at UC Berkeley, Woodbury University and the Boston Architectural College. Previously, he has worked for design firms such as Snøhetta in SF, Only If in NYC, and Miniwiz in Taipei as well as in creative roles at NASA JPL in LA, and OPT Industries in Cambridge. Currently, Joe operates a design consulting practice ARAЯA, and is a research affiliate in the Tangible Media Group at MIT.

https://josephkennedy.us/

Gorata holds an MBA from the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS). She is trained as an Architect, qualifying with both an MArch and a Post Professional MArch in Computing from the University of Miami where she graduated valedictorian and was recipient of the Henry Adams Medal for Excellence in Architecture by the American Institute of Architects. Gorata received her B.A. in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.

With over 18 years as a practising Architect and as President of Architects Association of Botswana, Gorata is a highly accomplished and multifaceted professional with expertise in architecture, design, real estate, and global business. Her teaching experience includes teaching fellowships at Harvard Graduate School of Design in Urban Economics for Planners and Policymakers (SES5495), Cases in Contemporary Construction (SCI6230), Construction Systems (SCI6123), and as a graduate teaching assistant at University of Miami.

Elitza holds a Master’s Degree in Media & Cultural Studies Studies from the University of Tokyo. She has practiced at various art & architectural firms and institutions: OMA/AMO, Arata Isozaki & Associates, MAD Architects, MOT (Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo), and Junya Ishigami. At MOT, she worked on Oscar Niemeyer and Yoko Ono exhibitions. While at OMA/AMO, she was part of the exhibition team of the 14th International Architecture Exhibition/Fundamentals (Venice Architecture Biennale, 2014). Prior to Harvard, Elitza was a research fellow at the Chair for Computer Aided Architectural Design (CAAD), ETH Zürich. At ETH, she explored the convergence of art, philosophy, quantum physics, and coding. Elitza is a recipient of the Monbusho scholarship from the Japanese Government, the Fulbright and Thanks to Scandinavia grants, as well as of the ETH CAAD 2017 research fellowship. http://elitzakoeva.com

During the last 5 years, Hsuan published 6 journal and conference papers on urban renewal, housing policy, and social justice topics. His ongoing research investigates the impacts of property tax policies on housing affordability from Western to Eastern countries using Time Series, DID, and semi-structured interviews. His dissertation is by far supported by Fairbank Center and Harvard Real Estate Research Grant. The proposal was also presented at the 5th World Planning Schools Congress (WPSC) and Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) 62nd Annual Conference.

Previously, Hsuan interned at UN-Habitat, participating in Stockholm+50 and World Urban Forum and analyzing urbanization-related issues across the continents. Before Harvard, he also practiced as a researcher at the Ministry of Science and Technology and as an engineer at Taipei City Government. He founded his column in CommonWealth Magazine in 2015, continuously seeking dialogue with the public and resolutions for housing justice.

Prior to the GSD, she received bachelor’s degrees from University of Southern California in architecture and mathematics. In 2023, she graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Master of Science in Architecture Studies specializing in building technology. Her master’s thesis presents a novel workflow in Grasshopper to provide early-design guidance with life cycle assessment. The tool addresses the early-stage uncertainty through random inputs with a Monte Carlo approach and implements surrogate models to accelerate the process for each iteration. Yiwei has architecture internship experiences at von Oeyen Architects and Dosu Studio Architecture. She also worked as a research assistant at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub.

Previously, she was a consultant for the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) division (Climate Change and Sustainable Development Department) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where she coordinated governance projects for emerging metropolitan systems in the framework of decentralization policies and institutional strengthening programs. She also supported the IDB Southern Cone countries team in research, operations and technical cooperation on sustainable development, Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), and neighborhood improvement in Chilean cities. She was also a researcher at the Urban Design Lab of the IDB, the Austrian Ministry of Finance, and the Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien), where she developed participatory methodologies for the design of urban projects with local communities in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Panamá.

Dominique has participated in collaborative networks for research and urban design, and in editorial projects such as Plataforma Urbana (Archdaily).

Nusrat received the Aga Khan Endowment Fund in the 2022-23 academic year. She served as a fellow at Harvard Mellon Urban Initiative and as a Graduate Student Associate at the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard. She completed her M.Arch from Syracuse School of Architecture with the A.I.A Henry Adams Medal for achieving the highest academic rank. She received her B.Arch from BUET, Bangladesh and was a lecturer there. She has received several international awards, including Lafarge-Holcim, Laka International: Architecture that Reacts, and HDR Graduate Student Award in Architecture and Urban Design, among others.

www.nusratmim.net

With over ten years of experience as an interdisciplinary designer on civic, cultural, institutional and infrastructural projects, Sarah formerly worked in New York with Rafael Viñoly Architects, Schlaich Bergermann Partner and Santiago Calatrava. Her international projects include complex facades, grid shells, membrane structures, pedestrian bridges, slender spires and various complex/special structures.

Having taught most recently at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) as a visiting fellow, Sarah has also taught design studios and technology/theory courses at Parsons School of Design, The New School, and University of Michigan. She has also been an invited visiting critic for reviews at Columbia University, University of Virginia, Pratt Institute and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).

Sarah earned her MArch I from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), an MFA in Product Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and undergraduate degree concentrations in studio art, art history, journalism and photography.

Her research interest focus on human behavior generated through land use and transportation interaction, including floating population and mobility dynamics in metropolitan areas. Moving forward, she would like to delve into related research areas, including public transit accessibility in urban neighborhoods and the built environment’s impact on travel patterns.

Her prior research aimed to determine the degree of land use mix matters in the activity centers of a large city that already supports mixed land use and to investigate which land use has a more significant impact on population distribution during the day or at night. During the pandemic, she explored how the pandemic crisis has influenced the changes in the use of urban parks and travel behavior in Seoul. More about her research projects and papers: https://dawonoh.com/ .

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and Urban Studies (BE) from Chung Ang University in Seoul, South Korea, and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning (MUP) from Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea.

www.jiotterson.com

Begoña worked as part of UN-Habitat’s climate change team (Global Solutions Division), supporting the program on strengthened climate action. She also worked for the Bangkok Office, the Pacific Office, and the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. She conducted applied research on urban climate resilience, ecosystem-based adaptation, and informal settlements, collaborating with UNEP, UNESCAP, UNDRR, among others. In Fiji, she led the development of community-level vulnerability assessments and action plans in 16 informal settlements across four urban areas. She authored a guide on participatory methodologies to support community-level resilience planning and implemented them on the ground, working with local communities. Begoña has presented at international conferences including the World Urban Forum and the Urban Resilience Asia Pacific Conference.

Previously, Begoña worked at architecture and urban planning offices as a project leader, where she worked on a diverse range of internationally recognized European projects (including the International Architecture Award).

Shweta has explored architecture, urban design and master planning projects across various design cultures. She has worked as a design director in Bangalore and New York with Gensler, in Singapore, Mumbai and London with BroadwayMalyan as a board director and in Ahmedabad, India with a small practice. Having worked on international projects like the National University Hospital in Singapore, JFK airport in New York and various residential master planning projects, her core interest lies in civic and education typologies.

She has led and co-taught both advanced and introductory design studios and mentored undergraduate research thesis in architecture and urban design at CEPT University in Ahmedabad. Her students have presented their research papers in various seminars and have won excellence awards for best studio projects.

She has earned her March I from University of California, Berkeley and undergraduate degree in architecture from India.

By translating methods of traditional behavioral therapy, her research seeks to demonstrate how human, machine, and spatial interactions can be leveraged via AI algorithms to propose more seamless and intuitive solutions to addressing mental health. As part of this work, she explores how neurological and physiological cues can give insight to one’s behavior, and in turn support cognitive processes through the lens of materiality, computational design, affective computing, and social robotics.

Alongside her doctoral studies at Harvard, Katarina is a research assistant with the Materials Processes and Systems Group (MaP+S) at the GSD, as well as a member of the Aizenberg Lab at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Katarina holds a Master in Design Technology (M.Des.) from Harvard GSD and a Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch) from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with a minor in Sustainable Environments. She has worked at leading architecture firms including Snøhetta, Arup, IwamottoScott, and most recently Gehry Partners, where she worked as a project designer.

Pedro explores the interdisciplinary collaboration between anthropologists and designers -ethnographies and projects- to promote culturally sensitive design. His research focuses on the role of architecture in the failure of “development” projects for ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples. He is particularly interested in housing from the perspectives of kinship, political economy, and symbolic anthropology.

Prior to joining the GSD, Pedro studied in Spain (ETSAM Madrid, ETSAV Barcelona, and UNED Madrid), Switzerland (USI Mendrisio), and Chile (PUC, Santiago de Chile). He has worked at Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, and RCR arquitectes in Olot.

Prior to the GSD Adam founded the Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio. The Design Studio hosts numerous interdisciplinary design courses at Columbia University, including the Design for Social Innovation initiative. DFSI teaches teams of students how to use human centered design to help social impact organizations advance an innovation project. Past organizations include Harlem Children’s Zone, Witness.org, the NYC Department of Education, and the Aga Khan Foundation in Kyrgyzstan.

Adam’s research journey began at the Stanford University d.school. There he started the d.school’s first research effort with the goal of measuring the impact of the institute’s programs. Using a mixed method approach, Adam developed and implemented quantitative and qualitative assessments of students’ design practice. This work led to over a dozen chapter and journal publications.

Outside of his work in academia, Adam consults with a range of companies and foundations to promote organizational learning through human centered design. Adam’s academic background includes a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California Berkeley and an M.A. in Learning, Design, & Technology from Stanford University.

Carolina served as a Consultant at the Housing and Urban Development Division at the Inter-American Development Bank in Chile (2020-2023). Currently, she is conducting a research project called “ Cruising ,” granted by the Centre for Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam, which explores queerness, artistic practices, and urban life. Carolina’s doctoral research explores queer artistic practices in cities, focusing on nightlife, and multidisciplinary research.

https://polyamorous.gallery/

When viewed as a constellation, Simpson’s projects re-conceptualize “the planetary” via aesthetic explorations rooted in paradigmatic shifts in the way ecological and industrial connectivity/flows are constructed by and across spatial scales. She is focused, geographically, on the Southeastern United States and studies how the region (vis-à-vis the logics of pine plantations and biomass energy) plays a vital role in exporting land and labor relations and material practices globally. Recent projects include instances of nuclear spelunking in the deep South and various investigations of tunnels and financialization in Atlanta, capsized cargo ships off of the Georgia coast, and zones of migration/production struggle in the Lower Chattahoochee River Valley.

Simpson is an ongoing contributor to Port Futures & Social Logistics, a speculative platform interested in port-city-hinterland geographies that connect circulation studies and struggles to planetary urban critique. She received an MFA from the University of Georgia and a BFA from UNC-Chapel Hill; her work has been exhibited internationally and she regularly publishes enviro-spatial criticism and exhibition reviews. In her free time, she builds canoes & rides horses.

www.ahsimpson.com

Tom currently teaches at the Boston Architectural College. His recent work has been displayed in the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Royal Scottish Academy. Before joining the DDes, Tom worked as an exhibition designer, curator, researcher, and designer in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, New York, and Edinburgh; he also taught at the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State University.

Tom holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture (B.Arch) from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture (MLA) with distinction from the University of Edinburgh.

Elaine currently teaches at Rhode Island School of Design, where she has led a range of studios and seminars focused on urban infrastructure and digital representation. Previously, Elaine earned her Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and her Master in Landscape Architecture from the GSD, where she graduated with distinction.

www.etstokes.com

While studying at Harvard, Tianyu founded Place AI, an initiative advocating for and experimenting with responsible practice and strategies in urban technology applications, with a team of urban scholars and technologists. Before joining Harvard, Tianyu received his Master in City Planning from MIT, concentrating on Urban Information Systems and City Design & Development. He also holds a Master of Architecture and a Bachelor of Architecture from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. For his professional and research work, check out his personal website: https://www.tianyu-su.city/ .

Since the establishment of ARCHIS in 2016, Shining has acted as the lead designer on a number of projects at the architectural and urban scale with the aim to produce solutions that are not formally preconceived, but rather emergent from each project’s particular contextual adjacencies and contingent interrelationships. Previously, she had practiced at internationally recognized offices, including OMA, AECOM, and Aedas.

In addition, Shining has won awards including Forbes 30 Under 30, Tatler Gen. T Award for Emerging Architect, Harvard John E. Irving Fellowship, KPF Honorary Paul Katz Fellowship, CCA Art Grant, and Canada’s Governor General Award. Shining’s work has also been exhibited at Shanghai Pudong Art Museum, Venice Biennale, Pingyao International Film Festival (AI-IF Film), SpamArt Foundation, and Hartell Gallery.

Prior to the DDes program, Sophia earned a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture with Distinction in Research from Cornell University, minoring in Environmental Science and Sustainability. She received her Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture (MLA) and Design Studies (MDes) in Ecologies from the GSD. She practiced internationally at landscape and architecture firms and won several design competitions and student awards from World Landscape Architecture, the Charette, etc.

In 2022, Sophia worked as an instructor in GSD’s Design Discovery Virtual and In-person programs, teaching design studios, lectures, and seminars. At the GSD, she has been a teaching assistant and academic tutor for Master of Landscape Architecture, contributing to multiple core design studios, ecology courses, and theory seminars.

As an experienced fieldworker and community organizer, Ayaka consulted several of JICA’s international development projects and now teaches at the University of Nagano. She holds a Bachelor of Agriculture (International Sustainable Agriculture Development) and a Master of Health Sciences (Human Ecology) from the University of Tokyo. She is also a Fulbright scholar and graduated from Harvard Graduate School of Design (Master in Design Studies: Risk and Resilience). At GSD, She received a community service fellowship and serves as the Critical Landscapes Design Lab coordinator.

https://hrvd.me/yamashita21f

At the GSD, he has contributed to teaching courses in the Department of Landscape Architecture. Since 2018, he has been a guest Instructor for numerous workshops for core design studios, Teaching Fellow for theory and representation courses, and Teaching Assistant for Master in Landscape Architecture design thesis and option studio..

Yeo joins the School of Architecture as a Part-Time instructor in Fall 2021. At Syracuse University, he will teach the second-year undergraduate architectural design studio. He has also taught core architectural design studios at the Boston Architectural College from 2018-19.

Yeo was a Research Associate from 2018-19 and a Research Fellow from 2019-21 at the Office for Urbanization, led by Charles Waldheim. Yeo is a co-author of a forthcoming design research publication titled 50 Species-Towns (Harvard University, 2021) that imagines alternative futures of agrarian urbanization in China. A portion of this work was featured in the National Gallery of Victoria’s Melbourne Design Week in 2021. He also contributed to the Office for Urbanization’s exhibition entry Heliomorphic Seoul for Seoul:Superground exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Architecture and Urbanism in 2018. Yeo has also held design positions at Payette and Safdie Architects in Boston.

Yeo earned his MLA from Harvard University in 2018, where he received the Master in Landscape Architecture Thesis Prize for his design thesis Wild: Manhattanism Unhinged . He earned his B.Arch from Syracuse University in 2015, where his design thesis Crazy Long: A Sticky Landscape Infrastructure received the Dean’s Citation for Excellence.

www.maroulazacharias.com

Ph.D. Candidate Profiles

• Student/Faculty Portal
• Learning Hub (Brightspace)
• Continuous Professional Development

January 3, 2024

By Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science staff

Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate Katy Lydon recently won a $5,000 prize through a National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering contest aimed at introducing biomedical engineering concepts to middle schoolers.

Katy Lydon was in fifth grade when she became fascinated with engineering. A team of engineers visited her classroom and led an exercise in designing, building, and testing miniature towers made out of cardboard. It wasn't until the end of high school, however, that she would associate engineering with medicine.

"I didn't truly learn about biomedical engineering until my senior year," she says of the field that would become her passion. "I wished I'd been introduced to it earlier."

Now a third-year Ph.D. candidate at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences , Lydon conducts research under the mentorship of orthopedic surgeon  Daniel Saris, M.D., Ph.D.   His basic science lab specializes in restoring function to injured joints through cell and tissue repair, especially for knee injuries.

Even as Lydon conducts experiments, she remains interested in educating others about what biomedical engineers do. So when the National Institutes of Health announced its annual contest to introduce biomedical engineering concepts to middle schoolers, Lydon was all-in.

She set out to draft a classroom plan. "I knew it would be out of my comfort zone," she says, "but I loved that the NIH is aiming to introduce kids early to engineering — and to biomedical engineering, specifically."

In December, Lydon learned the lesson plans she developed were among five national winners of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering contest. Known as the Biomedical Engineering Adapted for Middle Schoolers (BEAMS) Challenge, the contest comes with a $5,000 prize. The winning lesson plans will be provided free to teachers around the country to use in their classrooms.

Connecting with kids (and keeping their attention)

Lydon's research for her graduate studies focuses on restoring a torn meniscus, a knee injury that's notoriously challenging to treat. The team in Dr. Saris' lab studies various approaches to generate new tissue for the knee and conducts biomechanical tests to understand the durability of the engineered product.

When Lydon decided to develop lesson plans for middle schoolers, she chose the topic of "biomaterials" — natural or synthesized substances that can be used to solve medical issues. Biomaterials can include the metals or ceramics used in a hip replacement or even the polymer scaffold used as a base to grow engineered tissue.

The first challenge she faced for the contest was finding an approach that would make sense to young students.

The way we think as researchers is very different from the way you have to address a middle school classroom. There's so much information that goes into knowing what a biomaterial is, how it's used, and what its properties are. But in this case, you need to use vocabulary middle schoolers use. And you have to keep them focused.

Katy Lydon Ph.D. student, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Ph.D. Candidate Shares a Passion for Biomedical Engineering With Young Students

After packing a PowerPoint with information, Lydon realized quickly she had to pare back and share details students could engage with and retain. She worked closely with  Christopher Pierret, Ph.D. , assistant dean of academic affairs, who also leads the Mayo-initiated science-training program  InSciEd Out  offered in area schools.

Dr. Pierret encouraged Lydon to include hands-on activities for the students.

What's exciting about the BEAMS initiative is the intent to connect classroom education to the cutting-edge of science related to biomedical engineering, but it's an initiative that's great for the entrants, too. It's a fantastic opportunity for new scientists to experience curriculum-writing. Our graduate school encourages students to broaden their competencies for paths after graduation. In a short period of time, Katy learned about education practice, theory, and strategy.

Christopher Pierret, Ph.D. Assistant dean of academic affairs

Lydon also met individually with two teachers from Rochester-area schools and shared her draft lesson plans.

"They were honest and gave open feedback," Lydon says. "They were able to say, 'No the students won't sit for this' or 'the small groups need to be smaller.' I knew going into the meetings with them that a lot of what I'd developed was going to have to change before I had a final product. Their input was incredibly valuable."

Learning to address medical problems

In the first of four 45-minute lessons, Lydon's classroom plan invites students to sort different biomaterials they find in a box, identifying what the objects are made of and describing their properties. As they learn specific types of biomaterials, such as metal, ceramic, or polymer, they learn how the materials are used by doctors to help patients. (For example, some materials make good stents, as Lydon explains, while others make good prosthetic joints.)

Students are prompted to think about questions related to the advantages and disadvantages of certain materials, how their properties help with their intended function, and even the environmental impact of each substance.

After doing short readings, sharing information in small groups, and even playing a Jeopardy-style game about biomaterials, the students' learning culminates in designing a mock device out of pipe cleaners and other easily accessible items that could address a medical problem.

The two middle school teachers Lydon consulted with expressed interest in using the lesson plans. "They were very enthusiastic about trying this out," she says.

Ultimately, participation in the contest is important for the field, and for Mayo, too, says  Leigh Griffiths, VetMB, Ph.D. , dean of Mayo Clinic Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences.

"We all play a role in sharing the importance of science, even with the youngest learners, and training the workforce of the future," Dr. Griffiths says.

For Lydon, the joy was in creating a middle school experience she wished she'd had as a kid.

"It was great to think about relaying these complex topics in a way that middle schoolers can understand, whether it's dealing with a broken bone or healing a knee, and sharing how biomedical engineering can be used to solve problems that matter to all of us," she says.

This story originally appeared on  Discovery's Edge .

Related links

• Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
• Ph.D. program

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Graduate Admissions

Helpful guides for applying to the biology phd program, tips for applying to the cmob track, tips for applying to the eco/evo track.

The PhD program trains students for careers in research and teaching. In addition to a wide range of courses, the PhD program offers informal but intensive instruction in laboratories and seminars, characterized by close contact between students and their faculty advisors. Biology is one of fourteen home programs  in the  Biosciences,  which span the School of Medicine and the School of Humanities and Sciences.

How to Apply

For the 2023-2024 PhD application season, application processes will be run through existing Biology (School of Humanities & Sciences)  and the Oceans Department(Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability). 

Previously part of the Biology Department , Hopkins Marine Station is now part of the Oceans Department within the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability (SDSS).  Several faculty took appointments in Oceans, while others chose to stay in Biology; still others have joint appointments.  Additionally, several faculty members in Ecology/Evolutionary Biology now have joint appointments within Biology and SDSS. Based on these changes, the following information will provide further guidance for the application process. 

• Faculty with 100% appointments in Biology, will only recruit through Biology.  The Biology application will be used.
• Ecology/Evolutionary Biology faculty with 50/50 appointments in both Biology and SDSS will recruit students through either Biology or Earth Systems Science .  If you are interested in working with Ecology/Evolutionary faculty with joint Biology/SDSS appointments, you should reach out to them directly regarding the appropriate application track to choose. 
• 100% Oceans faculty will only be recruiting students through the Earth Systems Science application.
• Oceans faculty appointed 50/50 in Biology and SDSS (Oceans Department), will recruit students through either Biology or Earth Systems Science .  If you are interested in working with Oceans faculty with joint Biology/SDSS appointments, you should reach out to the individual faculty members you hope to work with regarding the appropriate application and track to choose. 

Faculty Affiliated with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability

Oceans Department:

Fio Micheli 100% 

Jeremy Goldbogen 100%

Giulio De Leo 100%

Larry Crowder 100%

Steve Palumbi 50% Oceans/50%Biology

Barbara Block 50% Oceans/50% Biology

*Note Chris Lowe will remain 100% in Biology

Ecology/Evolution

Liz Hadly 50% SDSS/50%Biology

Rodolfo Dirzo 50% SDSS/50%Biology

Tad Fukami 50% SDSS/50%Biology

Kabir Peay 50% SDSS/50%Biology

Chris Field 50% SDSS/50% Biology

Gretchen Daily 50% SDSS/50% Biology

Application and Deadline

Stanford Biology PhD Program applications are made through Graduate Admissions . The application deadline for Autumn Quarter 2024 matriculation is December 5, 2023 at 11:59pm pst.  The application for the Autumn 2024 cohort will be available in September 2023.  Please review the Graduate Admissions website prior to starting your application. Applications are considered for admission in Autumn Quarter only. 

Application Status

To check your application status,  click here to Visit Your Status Page .  

Requirements

• U.S. Bachelor's degree or its foreign equivalent
• Stanford Graduate application
• Non-refundable application fee of $125 (or fee waiver found here ) 
• Statement of Purpose
• Three Letters of Recommendation (a maximum of four letters will be accepted)
• Transcripts - Unofficial transcripts from all universities and colleges you've attended for one year or more must be uploaded to the online application.  Graduate Admissions only requires admitted applicants who accept the offer of admission to submit official transcripts that shows their degree conferral. Please do not send or have sent any official transcripts to us at this time.
• TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language (required for non-native English speakers)
• A current Curriculum Vitae/Resume

Knight-Hennessy Scholars

Join dozens of  Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences students  who gain valuable leadership skills in a multidisciplinary, multicultural community as  Knight-Hennessy Scholars  (KHS). KHS admits up to 100 select applicants each year from across Stanford’s seven graduate schools, and delivers engaging experiences that prepare them to be visionary, courageous, and collaborative leaders ready to address complex global challenges. As a scholar, you join a distinguished cohort, participate in up to three years of leadership programming, and receive full funding for up to three years of your PhD studies at Stanford. Candidates of any country may apply. KHS applicants must have earned their first undergraduate degree within the last seven years, and must apply to both a Stanford graduate program and to KHS. Stanford PhD students may also apply to KHS during their first year of PhD enrollment. If you aspire to be a leader in your field, we invite you to apply. The KHS application deadline is October 11, 2023. Learn more about  KHS admission .

Biology PhD Program General Information

Diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging.

The Department of Biology recognizes that the Supreme Court issued a ruling in June 2023 about the consideration of certain types of demographic information as part of an admission review. All applications submitted during upcoming application cycles will be reviewed in conformance with that decision. The Department of Biology welcomes graduate applications from individuals with a broad range of life experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds who would contribute to our community of scholars. Review of applications is holistic and individualized, considering each applicant’s academic record and accomplishments, letters of recommendation, and admissions essays in order to understand how an applicant’s life experiences have shaped their past and potential contributions to their field.Please see the websites below for more resources.

• Diversity and Engagement in Biosciences PhD Programs
• Vice Provost for Graduate Education
• Biology Equity and Belonging
• Research Sites
• Faculty Profiles and Labs
• Inquiries about the PhD in Biology should be directed to  biologyadmissions [at] lists.stanford.edu (biologyadmissions[at]lists[dot]stanford[dot]edu)

Bioengineering PhD Model Program

Bioengineering is a diverse and growing field encompassing many topics including biomaterials, biomechanics including robotics, biophysics and neuromotor control.  

The guidelines given here form a starting point for a discussion with the faculty about areas of interest. Students should become familiar with both these bioengineering course guidelines as well as the school's overall PhD course requirements , and work in close consultation with their advisors to develop an individualized program plan that is consistent with those requirements. Courses provide the background knowledge that is needed to successfully complete research and allow students to learn more broadly about a field or related fields in a structured fashion.

Students can consider structuring their coursework in the following framework:

• Applied math and computation, 2-3 courses. The goal is to acquire analytical and computational tools for modeling and data analysis. Typical courses include AM 121, AM 201, AM 205, AM 216, AM 232, AC 209a.
• Cells, Tissues, and Biomaterials: ES 222, ES 230, ES 221, ES 228, ES 220, ES 293, ES 240, AP 225, AP 235
• Applied Mechanics: ES 240, ES 241, ES 246, ES 228, ES 220, AP 235
• Signal, Image and Data Processing: ES 201, ES 226r, ES 250, ES 255, AM 254, CS 283
• Controls and Robotics: ES 201, ES 202, ES 226r, ES 249, ES 259, ES 252r, CS 289
• Medical Imaging & Image Processing: CS 283, ES 250, ES 258, ES 293
• Design and Instrumentation: ES 227, ES 228, ES 259, ES 276, ES 277, ES 291, PHY 223
• Physiology and biology, 1-2 courses. Background in biological function that informs thesis research and prepares students for future research in bioengineering. Subject areas may range from molecular to cellular to organs to system-level anatomy and function. Typical courses include: ES 222, CELLBIO 304qc.

It is also worth noting that Harvard and MIT students may cross register for courses at either institution.

The Model Program provided above is intended to provide guidance and should not be construed as a requirement; students, in consultation with their advisor(s) , have the flexibility to construct any Ph.D. Program Plan that meets the overall PhD Program course requirements.

In Bioengineering

• Undergraduate Engineering at Harvard
• Concentration Requirements
• How to Declare
• Who are my Advisors?
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PhD Program

Main navigation, phd program in bioengineering.

Study for the PhD in Bioengineering combines rigorous coursework with novel research mentored by Stanford faculty, enabling students to develop as independent intellectual leaders working at the interfaces between biology, medicine, engineering, and the physical sciences. Our mission is to train students at the intersection of biomedicine and engineering in both academia and the burgeoning biomedical and biotechnology industries. Applicants should have a commitment to learning and a passion for research. 

On average, the program is completed in five to six years, depending on the student’s research and progress. First-year students have the opportunity to rotate in three different labs before selecting their dissertation advisor (PI). Many students choose to join labs in the Bioengineering department, but we also have several students who join labs within the Schools of Engineering, Medicine, and Humanities & Sciences. 

The Bioengineering Department also believes that teaching is an important part of graduate-level education in Bioengineering. Consequently, serving as a teaching assistant for two courses is a requirement for the PhD in Bioengineering. Current BioE and Stanford graduate students can learn more about our TA opportunities via our BioE intranet .

Along the way to the PhD degree, students have clear and defined milestones that help guide them to the successful completion of their dissertation and oral defense. More information regarding our PhD degree requirements and milestones can be found in the Stanford Bulletin .

What We Look For

BioE PhD students come from a wide variety of personal, educational, and professional backgrounds. We welcome applicants with undergraduate degrees in diverse STEM disciplines including Bioengineering, Biophysics, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Biochemistry, Physics, and Chemistry. There are no specific course requirements for applicants, but a competitive candidate will have strong quantitative training in mathematics and the physical sciences, along with a background in biology acquired through coursework or prior research. All admitted graduate students should be prepared to take the core courses  in the first year.

We welcome students entering directly from undergraduate programs, as well as applicants with MS degrees and/or substantial work experience in areas ranging from biotechnology to robotics. Our admissions committee will look for evidence that an applicant has demonstrated qualities of successful PhD students such as creativity, self-initiative, dedication, and perseverance. We also aim to admit bioengineering students who can thrive at Stanford because their specific interests and aspirations are well-matched with the research of our faculty and the educational environment of our department

Incoming Student Profile

The Bioengineering community is home to over 165 PhD students who come from a variety of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Below is a snapshot of our BioE PhD cohort that started in Fall 2020.

INVENTING THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE

PhD Admissions

Apply to UW Bioengineering’s Ph.D. program – GRE Now Optional

Admission to UW Bioengineering’s Ph.D. program is competitive. While we are impressed with the quality of applicants each year and genuinely appreciate each candidate’s interest and application, we regret that only a small number of students will be offered admission each year.

Have a question about applying?

Review the Ph.D. Admissions Frequently Asked Questions.

Application opens October 1 st 2023

THE DEADLINE FOR AUTUMN 2024 IS DECEMBER 1st, 2023 11:59PM PST

Applicants are responsible for ensuring their application is complete and received by the deadline in order to be considered for admission.  Late applications will not be reviewed, no exceptions.

Before applying

• Review this page carefully to understand the application process: deadlines, policies, documents needed, selection notification and more.
• Visit the  UW Graduate School’s website  to understand the overall application process.
• Review the  Ph.D. application frequently asked questions (FAQ) page
• Review the  UW Graduate School Admissions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• If you don’t find your question answered there, please  contact an academic counselor via our contact form  or emailing  [email protected] .

Application information

Admission notification.

The review of completed Ph.D. applications starts in December and continues through the end of January. Virtual interviews for selected applicants will occur mid-January to mid-February, 2024. Admission offers will be sent by mid-February, with a recruitment event in Seattle to follow in March. Students who are selected will be notified well in advance.

Status of application

If you are waiting to hear about the status of your application, please check the email account you submitted with your online application and also log back into your application profile .

Am I a domestic or international applicant?

You are a domestic applicant if you are a U.S. citizen or hold immigrant status (permanent residency/have a green card).

You are an international applicant if you have/will have a non-immigrant visa status, including F-1, J-1 Exchange Visitors, H-1, dependent visas. 

International students must have a U.S. visa status that allows academic study at the University of Washington.

International applicants are strongly encouraged to review the UW Graduate School FAQ for International Students .

How to apply

Application checklist (gre scores, transcripts, etc), gre scores – optional.

If choosing to submit, GRE scores must be directly reported from ETS to UW (use institutional code 4854; department code 1603). GRE scores must be valid and five (5) years old or less on the date the application is submitted.

Applicants may submit self-reported GRE scores up until the  day of the deadline . Official GRE scores should be submitted and properly uploaded into a candidate’s application by January 1 if they would like to be considered.

Unofficial transcripts

Unofficial transcripts from all institutions attended must be uploaded into the Graduate School online application. Paper transcripts will not be accepted . Applicants should not submit official transcripts unless explicitly requested.

Three letters of recommendation

Each applicant must designate three (3) people who will write letters of recommendation. Each writer will immediately receive an e-mail directing him/her to a secure website to submit the letter of recommendation online and complete an evaluation form of the applicant.

Typically, mentors who have seen you in a lab environment, as a researcher, and can speak to your research experience, content and progress will provide your strongest recommendations. We ask recommenders to talk about your research experience, strengths, and your ability to overcome obstacles.

The official Ph.D. application deadline is December 1, 2023. All letters must be received by the deadline in order for an application to be considered complete. Applicants should track the status of the letters of recommendation by logging back into the online application.

Statement of Purpose

Please answer each of the following questions separately.

1) What research area would you like to pursue for your graduate studies, and why? What have you done in the past, and how has your past experience shaped these interests and passions? You can read about our research themes here .

2) What do you hope to gain from your graduate studies that will be useful for your long-term career goals?  Explain why the Bioengineering Department at the University of Washington will provide a good fit for your research interests and career goals?

3) The graduate student experience and life in general can involve a range of challenges. Describe an example of how you have shown resilience and/or perseverance in the pursuit of your academic goals or in your personal life and how you have grown as a result.

4) If you have a background or experience  that might particularly contribute to the enrichment of the program, please describe it. Examples include unique educational or cultural opportunities, social and economic obstacles that you may have had to overcome, or other and interesting or unusual influences on your personal intellectual development.

5) [OPTIONAL] Provide any additional information you would like in support of your application.

List of faculty of interest

Applicants must provide a ranked faculty list, of 3 (minimum) to 5 (maximum) faculty whose research interests them and with whom they would want to complete their graduate work. Only core and adjunct BIOE faculty may be selected as PI/advisor for our graduate students. For a list of faculty and a description of their research, see our  faculty directory

Up-to-date resume or curriculum vitae

Additional documentation required from international candidates (toefl, etc).

All international applicants are encouraged to first visit the UW Graduate School to understand the overall application process .

Official TOEFL scores

International applicants are required to meet English proficiency standards as determined by the UW Graduate School in Memorandum No. 8 . International applicants who will not earn Bachelor’s, Master’s or Ph.D. degrees from U.S. or approved English speaking institutions prior to matriculation into a UW graduate program must submit official TOEFL scores, less than two (2) years old, directly from ETS to the department. International applicants must meet minimum score requirements as stated in Memo 8 in order to be considered for admission.

Please use institutional code 4854; no department code is required. Official TOEFL scores must be received by  11:59PM (PST) on the day of the program deadline (December 1, 2022)

International applicants who do not need to complete the TOEFL due to having a US or other approved country degree are instructed to select the TOEFL exam option on their application and enter an exam date that is later than the anticipated graduation date. Applicants should not register for the TOEFL though ETS nor will they need to enter TOEFL exam scores in their application. Once the candidate’s degree is earned and posted on the official transcript, the English language proficiency requirement will be removed from the application.

Applicants should plan to take the TOEFL well in advance of the application deadline to ensure that the official scores are uploaded by the admission deadlines.

To avoid additional and/or unexpected delays, a candidate’s name should appear with ETS and with the Bioengineering application exactly as it appears on the candidate’s passport.

Additional application materials (official transcripts, financial ability, copy of visa, etc)

The Graduate School only requires additional application materials from international applicants when they are recommended for admission. Applicants should not submit additional application materials unless explicitly instructed to do so by the Graduate School.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biology

The PhD in Biology is a research degree requiring graduate-level coursework, completion of a dissertation, and two semesters of participation in teaching (usually as a teaching fellow in laboratory or discussion sections of lecture courses led by Biology faculty). For most students, obtaining this degree typically involves five or more years of full-time study.

A summary of Biology PhD student expectations by year can be found here . Full details can be found in the Graduate Program Guide .

The Biology Department guarantees support for five years for all PhD students, contingent on satisfactory performance in the program.

How to Apply    Frequently Asked Questions

Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate academic mastery in one of three areas of Biology: Ecology, Evolution, Behavior & Marine Biology; Neurobiology; or Cellular & Molecular Biology.

2. Attain research expertise , including grant writing experience, and complete original research that advances a specific field of study within one of three broad subject areas represented in the department: Ecology, Behavior, Evolution & Marine Biology; Neurobiology; or Cellular & Molecular Biology.

3. Attain teaching experience and expertise in one of three broad areas of Biology: Ecology, Behavior, Evolution & Marine Biology; Neurobiology; or Cellular & Molecular Biology.

4. Attain the skills and qualifications needed for employment in an academic, government, or private sector position related to the life sciences.

Coursework Requirements

Students must complete 64 credits with a minimum grade point average of 3.0; at least 32 of these credits must be accrued from lecture, laboratory, or seminar courses. Students with prior graduate work may be able to transfer course credits.  See the  Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GRS) Transfer of Credits policy  for more details. 

• 2 semesters of Progress in Research Seminars (2 credits each):

Cell & Molecular Biology:  BI 583 & BI 584 (CM section)

Ecology, Behavior, Evolution & Marine Biology:  BI 579 & BI 580

Neurobiology:   BI 583 & BI 584 (NEURO section)

• 1 semester grant-writing course (2 credits):

Cell & Molecular Biology:  BI 581

Ecology, Behavior, Evolution & Marine Biology: BI 671

Neurobiology: BI 581

• 1 semester pedagogy course (1 credit): All Biology PhD students take  BI 697
• 1 quantitative course (3–4 credits): from a list of recommended courses .
• Additional courses vary by specific track below:

Cell & Molecular Biology

1. GRS BI 791/GRS BI 792 Graduate Rotation Credits (2 credits each/4 credits total)

2. GRS BI 753 Advanced Molecular Biology  (4 credits)

3. GRS MB 721 Graduate Biochemistry  (4 credits)

4. GRS BI 735 Advanced Cell Biology  (4 credits)

5. Two electives (8 credits, 500-level and above), see the Graduate Program Guide for recommendations

6. Research credits  (remaining credits)

Ecology, Behavior, Evolution & Marine Biology

1. Six electives  (24 credits, 500-level and above), see the Graduate Program Guide for recommendations

2. Research credits  (remaining credits)

Ecology, Behavior, Evolution & Marine Biology PhD candidate coursework is highly variable. Students, in consultation with advisors, develop a plan of coursework and research. Students are required to take a minimum of 32 credits of coursework. The remainder of the credits should be research.

Neurobiology

2. GRS BI 755 Cellular and Systems Neuroscience  (4 credits)

3. GRS BI 741 Neural Systems: Functional Circuit Analysis  (4 credits)

4. Four electives  (16 credits, 500-level and above), see the Graduate Program Guide for recommendations

5. Research credits  (remaining credits)

Teaching Requirement

The department requires a minimum of two semesters of teaching as part of the Doctor of Philosophy program. During the first semester of teaching, students are required to enroll in our first-year seminar course, GRS BI 697 A Bridge to Knowledge . The course provides guidance and training on pedagogy and other aspects of graduate school.

Qualifying Examination

The qualifying examination must be completed no later than six semesters after matriculation. In most graduate curricula in the department, this consists of a research proposal—often in the form of a grant application—which the student submits to their committee and subsequently defends in an oral presentation. In the  Cell & Molecular Biology and Ecology, Behavior, Evolution & Marine Biology curricula , this is preceded by a comprehensive written examination testing the student’s general background from coursework.

Dissertation & Final Oral Examination

Candidates shall demonstrate their abilities for independent study in a dissertation representing original research or creative scholarship. A prospectus for the dissertation must be completed and approved by the readers, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Biology Department Chair. Candidates must undergo a final oral examination in which they defend their dissertation as a valuable contribution to knowledge in their field and demonstrate a mastery of their field of specialization in relation to their dissertation. All portions of the dissertation and final oral examination must be completed as outlined in the  GRS General Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree . The results of the dissertation must be presented at a department colloquium.

Graduation Timeline

Forms and additional information about PhD graduation can be found on the GRS website .

9 – 12 months before proposed graduation date

• Dissertation Prospectus & approval form due to Graduate Program Specialist for departmental review and submission to GRS

Semester prior to your intended graduation cycle

• Intent to Graduate Form completed online

About 2 months before dissertation defense

• Meet with Graduate Program Specialist, Director of Graduate Studies, and Faculty Advisor to review requirements for defense
• Arrange for Special Service Appointments if committee members are not BU faculty
• Send first draft of dissertation to readers

Once defense date is confirmed with committee

• Reserve room(s) for public seminar and defense

At least three weeks prior to dissertation defense

• Schedule of Final Oral Exam with Abstract Approval due to GRS
• Properly formatted draft of dissertation submitted as PDF to [email protected]

At least two weeks prior to dissertation defense

• Send dissertation to all committee members

At least one week prior to dissertation defense

• Send program information to Graduate Program Specialist

See the Graduate Program Guide for final dates to submit dissertation to ETD

• Submit final dissertation to ETD (online submission)
• Complete electronic signature page and forward confirmation to Graduate Program Specialist along with a copy of your submitted dissertation

MS Degree (En Route to PhD)

Option one: A PhD student who has advanced to candidacy (as demonstrated by passing the PhD qualifying exam), and has completed 32 credits of graduate-level coursework (not including research) may apply to the Graduate School for an MS degree in Biology. This must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies within the Biology Department. The student’s major professor will receive notification of this application process.

Option two: A PhD student who has taken, but has not advanced to candidacy based on the PhD qualifying examination, may still receive an MS degree. This student may receive a Coursework MS degree provided they have completed 32 credits of coursework (not including research credits). Alternatively, this student may receive a Scholarly Paper or Research Thesis MS degree if the written portion of the qualifying examination is adapted to ensure it is of sufficiently high quality for a MS degree, and approved by a majority of the qualifying exam committee and the Director of Graduate Studies.

Interdisciplinary Study Options

Biology PhD students have the option to participate in the Boston University Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health (BU URBAN), the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program Understanding the Brain: Neurophotonics (NSF NRT UtB: Neurophotonics), and the Biogeoscience Advanced Graduate Certificate Program . These programs require separate applications in addition to the standard Biology PhD application; those interested in BU URBAN are encouraged pre-apply .

Time Limits

Officially, the PhD must be completed within seven years after the first registration for doctoral study. PhD degrees are conferred in either May, August, or January, as specified on the GRS website . In addition, the PhD candidacy expires after the fifth anniversary of passing the Qualifying Examination. Petitions to extend this deadline are possible at the discretion of the Director of Graduate Studies, the Department Chair, and the Dean of the Graduate School, and can be obtained from the Office of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

The Biology Department guarantees support for five years for all PhD students, contingent on satisfactory performance in the program. PhD students are encouraged to apply for fellowships and grants at funding agencies. All domestic students should apply for NSF Graduate Research Fellowships in the Fall semester of their first or second year. 

Travel Grants may be available to assist students in their travel to professional scientific meetings; students presenting papers or posters on their research will receive first consideration.

Common Types of Funding:

Dean’s Fellowships: These are non-service fellowships allocated to first-year PhD students that do not have immediate teaching requirements.

Teaching Fellowships: These provide a stipend plus full tuition and fees for up to four full courses per semester plus a 2-credit teaching course. Teaching responsibilities usually require approximately 20 hours per week. Full or partial awards may be given.

Doctoral Research Fellowships: These awards are given to students who assist individual faculty with specific areas of research. These Research Fellowships provide a stipend and full tuition. The supervising faculty member determines the specific duties of the Research Fellow.

In addition to the above funding sources, several competitive Department awards and fellowships are available to graduate students in the Department of Biology.

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• Department of Biological Sciences >
• Graduate >
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PhD in Biological Sciences

Faculty profile pages.

• 3/19/18 Victor A. Albert
• 5/3/21 Marcella Baiz
• 10/18/18 James Berry
• 7/3/23 Sam Crickenberger
• 3/19/18 Paul Cullen
• 1/3/22 Derek Daniels
• 8/30/23 Meredith Ezak
• 3/3/23 Denise Ferkey
• 9/22/21 Stephen J. Free
• 5/1/23 Omer Gokcumen
• 1/16/20 Shermali Gunawardena
• 3/4/21 David A. Hoekstra, II
• 3/19/18 Lara D. Hutson
• 8/3/23 Andrea M. Keeler
• 3/4/21 Gerald Koudelka
• 9/21/22 Corey A. Krabbenhoft
• 3/19/18 Trevor J. Krabbenhoft
• 3/19/18 James LaFountain
• 5/31/19 Jae W. Lee
• 5/2/22 Soo-Kyung Lee
• 8/31/23 Charlotte Lindqvist
• 12/29/20 Vincent J. Lynch
• 10/11/23 Alfredo Oliveros
• 1/5/24 Shaunna Phipps
• 3/19/18 Jessica Poulin
• 3/19/18 Laura Rusche
• 1/14/22 Scott R. Santos
• 8/24/20 Nitasha Sehgal
• 3/19/18 Randall Shortridge
• 8/24/20 Eric J. Strobel
• 3/19/18 Derek Taylor
• 3/19/18 Sarah E. Walker
• 6/28/23 Silu Wang
• 11/30/21 Zhen Q. Wang
• 3/15/21 Heather Williams
• 6/5/23 Ryan D. Wynne
• 5/3/21 Matthew Xu-Friedman
• 10/26/21 Pradeep K. Yerramsetty
• 3/19/18 Michael C. Yu

Our PhD program is a comprehensive, research-oriented program involving foundational coursework and an original dissertation research project mentored by one of our faculty. By working closely with this research advisor and members of a dissertation committee, students become independent scientists positioned to assume leadership roles in their chosen profession

Program Features

• Nationally recognized program: Our program is ranked in the top 10% of programs by research expenditures by the National Science Foundation and in the top quartile in terms of faculty quality and student experience (according to the National Research Council).
• Interdisciplinary training: Research in the department spans the breadth of biology, from molecules to populations.  In this environment, students are trained to draw connections and examine living systems at all levels of complexity.
• Superior training culture: PhD students work closely with mentors and committee members in a supportive, rigorous research environment.
• Full financial support: All PhD students are supported with a combination of renewable teaching and research assistantships. Support also includes tuition scholarships.
• Training beyond the laboratory: The program teaches grant-writing, public speaking, and classroom instruction, ensuring you are well prepared to succeed after graduation.

Program Requirements

Course Requirements As a foundation for advanced research, PhD candidates complete 22 credit hours of coursework in their first two years in the program. Courses cover advanced topics in the biological sciences and teach critical thinking, analysis of primary scientific literature, and experimental design.

Seminars To develop oral presentation skills, PhD candidates enroll in a seminar course each semester of their first two years.  Each student presents two seminars.  PhD candidates also attend the departmental seminar series, featuring distinguished scientists from inside and outside the university.

Rotations In the first year, PhD candidates perform two or three 10-week research rotations prior to joining a laboratory and embarking on a thesis project. Rotations consist of small research projects that are designed to introduce the student to research opportunities available in that laboratory.

Candidacy Exam At the end of the second year, PhD candidates take a candidacy exam consisting of two parts.  For the written exam, each student prepares an original research proposal on a topic of their choosing. For the oral examination, the dissertation committee questions the student about the research proposal and about foundational knowledge in the sub-discipline the student has chosen for their dissertation research.

Research Experience After successful completion of the candidacy exam, the student focuses on an original research project under the supervision of a faculty mentor.  Regular meetings with the PhD Advisory Committee provide additional guidance and support.

Dissertation Upon the completion of the research project, the student prepares a dissertation, which is read and evaluated by the PhD Advisory Committee.  The student also presents the research results publically in an hour-long seminar.

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• CORRESPONDENCE
• 02 April 2024

How can we make PhD training fit for the modern world? Broaden its philosophical foundations

• Ganesh Alagarasan 0

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Tirupati, India.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

You have highlighted how PhD training assessment has stagnated, despite evolving educational methodologies (see Nature 613 , 414 (2023) and Nature 627 , 244; 2024 ). In particular, you note the mismatch between the current PhD journey and the multifaceted demands of modern research and societal challenges.

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Nature 628 , 36 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00969-x

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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University of Vienna - Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science

Assistant Professor in Integrated Photonics

We offer you the chance to design a unique and autonomous research program, networking with specialists, students and entrepreneurs.

Gothenburg (Stad), Västra Götaland (SE)

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Seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow to apply advanced knowledge & skills to generate insights into aging, metabolic stress, lipid sensing, & brain Injury.

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For clinical medicine and basic medicine; basic research of emerging inter-disciplines and medical big data.

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Welcome to the MIT Computational and Systems Biology PhD Program (CSB)

The Ph.D. program seeks to train a new breed of quantitative biologists who can take advantage of technologies at the leading edge of science and engineering to tackle fundamental and applied problems in biology. Our students acquire: (i) a background in modern molecular/cell biology; (ii) a foundation in quantitative/engineering disciplines to enable them to create new technologies as well as apply existing methods; and (iii) exposure to subjects emphasizing the application of quantitative approaches to biological problems.  Our program and courses emphasize the logic of scientific discovery rather than mastering a specific set of skills or facts.  The program includes teaching experience during one semester of the second year.  It prepares students with the tools needed to succeed in a variety of academic and non-academic careers.

The program is highly selective with typical class sizes 8 to 10 students. About half of our graduate students are women, about one-quarter are international students, and about 10% are under-represented minorities.

Students complete most coursework during the first year, while exploring research opportunities through 1- or 2-month research rotations.  A faculty academic advisor assigned in the first year provides guidance and advice. Students choose a research advisor in spring or early summer of year 1 and develop a Ph.D. research project in with their advisor and input from a thesis committee chosen by the student.

Average time to graduation is 5½ years. 

The Program in CSB is committed to increasing opportunities for under-represented minority graduate students and students who have experienced financial hardship or disability.

Latest News:

Deciphering the cellular mechanisms behind als.

Professor Ernest Fraenkel has decoded fundamental aspects of Huntington’s disease and glioblastoma, and is now using computation to better understand amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

At a time in which scientific research is increasingly cross-disciplinary, Ernest Fraenkel, the Grover M. Hermann Professor in Health Sciences and Technology in MIT’s Department of Biological Engineering, stands out as both a very early adopter of drawing from different scientific fields and a great advocate of the practice today.

When Fraenkel’s students find themselves at an impasse in their work, he suggests they approach their problem from a different angle or look for inspiration in a completely unrelated field.

“I think the thing that I always come ba...

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Csb seminar series: soojung yang (gomez- bombarelli lab), csb thesis defense miriam shiffman (broderick & regev labs).

CSB PhD Candidate : Miriam Shiffman

Faculty Spotlight

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Human Genome Could Revolutionize Our Understanding of Disease

Olivia Corradin is an assistant professor of Biology at MIT and a core member of the Whitehead Institute. She investigates the genetic and epigenetic changes in gene regulatory elements that influence human disease.

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NTCP National Test Centre Circular Plastics

Phd candidate circular bio-based plastics.

NTCP is a young and dynamic applied research organisation around circular plastics. We have unique industrial-size set-ups that we use for independent R&D that covers the complete plastic journey from product via dumpster truck to extruder or chemical reactor to new product again. Our colourful building is a landmark in Heerenveen, The Netherlands.

We have a renowned knowledge position in the plastic recycling domain, including a strong network of waste management companies, FMCG brand owners, universities, sustainability NGOs, recycling equipment manufacturers, polymer producers, chemical industry, water treatment companies, and local authorities.

In the second half of 2024, in a consortium of 18 parties, we will embark on a  Circular Bio-based Europe Joint   Undertaking  project “PROSPER” on the sorting and recycling of bio-based plastics. In this project, NTCP will be responsible for the research in sorting and pre-treatment of bio-based plastics from household waste. Ghent University will be the lead institution for the project. For this project we are looking for a:

PhD Candidate

Circular bio-based plastics.

As a PhD Candidate you will be working in a team of experts at the unique facilities of NTCP in Heerenveen and will be following the PhD track at Ghent University in the Department of Green Chemistry and Technology.

Key responsibilities

• About 80% of your assignment will be spent on academic research in preparation of a PhD
• Design, perform, and optimise trials and experiments related to bio-based plastic recycling
• Counselling master and bachelor students active within your research project
• Managing part of the project, reporting to the consortium, dissemination in journals and conferences
• Identifying opportunities for follow-up research work

Job requirements

• MSc degree in chemistry, experimental physics, engineering, materials science, or another relevant field with an interest in the circular economy
• You have a strong motivation for conducting hands-on scientific research and dealing with complex research questions within a high-level research team.
• Self-motivated and pro-active team member
• Structured and creative problem-solving abilities, strong analytical and technical skills, critical scientific mindset and take responsibility for the development of your work
• Excellent English communication skills (written and oral)
• Knowledge of Dutch is a plus, not a must
• Authorised to work in The Netherlands

Our offer

We offer you the opportunity to work in an innovative and creative environment in an area that matters and creates impact on the circular use of resources. The vibrant atmosphere of NTCP also gives you the opportunity to contribute to the technological directions of NTCP. You will join a team of about 20 well-motivated colleagues, have regular contacts with the scientists at Ghent University, and will have a lot of international contacts. Of course, our employment conditions are competitive.

NTCP is committed to offer an inclusive working environment where all NTCP employees must have the same opportunities, be able to develop themselves as much as possible and – of course – be themselves within the NTCP organisation.

Interested?

Does this PhD Candidate position sound right for you and do you meet the above requirements, then apply with your CV and motivation letter by email to Marcel van Eijk, R&D Manager NTCP ([email protected]). We only take applications in consideration that are written in English. For more information you can contact Marcel van Eijk.

*By applying for a job listed on Academic Positions you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy.

Furthermore by submitting this application, you consent to us retaining your personal data for up to 3 months for service-related purposes. We prioritize your privacy and will handle your information securely.

Job details

About the employer.

The NTCP is a not-for-profit organisation and the first independent test centre with facilities on sorting and washing on industrial scale in Europe.

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2023 Stanford Bio-X PhD Fellows.

May 30, 2023

Stanford Bio-X is delighted to announce the 2023 Stanford Bio-X PhD Fellows . This year's  21  exemplary awardees represent 14 different departments and programs, and they will collaborate with 36 Stanford faculty mentors to bridge disciplines and undertake groundbreaking innovative research as a part of the Stanford Bio-X community. With the addition of our 2023 cohort, the Stanford Bio-X PhD Fellowship Program has now awarded a total of 385  meritorious Stanford students, supporting their unique and transformative interdisciplinary research projects.

Since its inception in 2004, the Stanford Bio-X Fellowship Program has supported Stanford PhD students pursuing cutting-edge interdisciplinary research under multiple faculty mentors, offering them the freedom to maximize the impact and expand the scope of their work. These remarkable young researchers receive full support (stipend and tuition) from Bio-X for three years of their graduate studies, allowing them to approach exciting research questions as they create connections within the Bio-X community and across campus.

To date,  282 Stanford Bio-X Fellows have graduated from Stanford , with alumni of the program establishing successful careers in the industry sector, founding start-up companies, holding professorships at Stanford and its peer institutions, and much more. Many of our alumni who have become Stanford faculty have now mentored Bio-X PhD Fellows in their own labs!

We are honored to welcome the 2023 Fellows to the Bio-X community, and look forward to supporting them as they pursue their passions and expand their research careers. To learn more about the program, meet the previous cohorts, and read about the successes of our Fellows, please visit the Stanford Bio-X Fellows website .

Bio-X is grateful to our donors, including the Bowes Foundation, for their continued generous support of the program. 

Check out the Stanford Bio-X PhD Fellowship Program Brochure!

The 2023 Stanford Bio-X Fellows Cohort in alphabetical order:

Carlos   Aldrete (Chemical Engineering) Advised by: Profs. Xiaojing Gao and Ngan Huang

Meelad   Amouzgar (Immunology) Advised by: Profs. Sean Bendall and Robert Tibshirani

Nahal   Bagheri (Electrical Engineering) Advised by: Profs. Steven Boxer and Possu Huang

Crystal Chen (Chemical Engineering) Advised by: Profs. Stanley Qi and Katherine Ferrara

Benjamin   Doughty (Genetics) Advised by: Profs. William Greenleaf and Jesse Engreitz

Mark   Fleck (Chemistry) Advised by: Profs. Fan Yang and Michael Lim

Kexin   Huang (Computer Science) Advised by: Profs. Jure Leskovec and Anshul Kundaje

Karan   Kathuria (Immunology, Medicine) Advised by: Profs. Mark Davis and Prasanna Jagannathan

Rennie   Kendrick (Neurosciences) Advised by: Profs. Scott Owen and Scott Linderman

Danielle   Klinger (Bioengineering) Advised by: Profs. Kristy Red-Horse and Mark Skylar-Scott

Daniel   Liu (Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Medicine) Advised by: Profs. Irving Weissman and Laura Prolo

Pradnya   Narkhede (Chemistry) Advised by: Profs. Or Gozani and James Chen

Babatunde   Ogunlade (Materials Science & Engineering) Advised by: Profs. Jennifer Dionne and Amanda Kirane

Jennifer   Parker (Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine) Advised by: Profs. Michael Longaker and Eric Appel

Divya   Rajasekharan (Mechanical Engineering) Advised by: Profs. Leanne Williams and Ellen Kuhl

Julia   Schaepe (Bioengineering) Advised by: Profs. William Greenleaf and Lacramioara Bintu

Jun Ho   Song (Biology) Advised by: Profs. Liqun Luo and Scott Linderman

Michelle   Tai (Bioengineering) Advised by: Profs. Fan Yang and Christina Curtis

Abby   Thurm (Biophysics, Medicine) Advised by: Profs. Lacramioara Bintu and Daniel Herschlag

Austin   Wang (Computer Science) Advised by: Profs. Anshul Kundaje and Kristy Red-Horse

Theodore   Yang (Chemical Engineering) Advised by: Profs. Daniel Jarosz and Jian Qin

Meet Some of Our Previous Fellows!

Jorge Meraz

Paola Moreno-Roman

Gabriella Muwanga

Anna Shcherbina

Victor Tieu

Pranav Vyas

Javier Weddington

Andrew Weitz