Department of Cell Biology
333 Cedar Street
PO Box 208002
New Haven, CT 06520-8002
Tel: 203.785.4311
Fax: 203.785.7446
This handbook is intended to be a source of information for graduate students studying for the Ph.D. degree in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale. Here, students as well as faculty should be able to find answers to questions that may occur to them from time to time about the Cell Biology Ph.D. program and its specific policies. The Programs and Policies bulletin of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (http://www.yale.edu/bulletin/html/grad/introduction.html), which is updated annually, is the definitive source of information about academic rules and regulations as well as general policies that apply to all graduate programs.
Students interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in Cell Biology apply to the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) graduate program, generally choosing the Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics and Development (MCGD) track as their primary interest on the application form. At the end of the 1st year, any student choosing to carry out thesis research in the lab of a faculty member with a primary appointment in the Cell Biology Department automatically enters the Cell Biology Ph.D. program. A student choosing to do thesis research that is cell biological in nature but in the laboratory of a faculty member not formally affiliated with the department can also request to be in the Cell Biology program.
Formally, to join the Cell Biology program, a student must fill out the “Advisor and Degree Program Selection Form” available from the BBS office (see Contacts below) and have it signed by the thesis advisor and DGS of Cell Biology. Students in the MCGD track submit this form to Shirlene Scott, the registrar for the track (shirlene.scott@yale.edu). The deadline is July 1.
Students should aim for finishing the Ph.D. in 5-6 years. Described below is a typical timetable with major events of each year toward the Ph.D.
Year 1: Devoted mainly to laboratory rotations and coursework. Students do 3 rotations during the academic year in any of the labs in the MCGD track or in the wider BBS program. Some students occasionally elect to do a 4th rotation during the summer. Usually all students will have fulfilled the Cell Biology course requirement (p. 4) at the end of this year. By the end of the year, students choose a lab in which to carry out thesis research.
Year 2: Begin thesis research. The qualifying exam (p. 5) is taken during the fall semester. The first thesis committee meeting is held in the spring. Admission to candidacy (p. 9) usually occurs by the end of this year. Students may teach during this year.
Year 3: Thesis research. Teaching (some students complete the requirement for 2 semesters of teaching this year or next). Some students are already writing a manuscript of their work to be submitted for publication.
Year 4-5: Thesis research. Manuscript writing. Teaching.
Year 5-6: Finishing thesis research, manuscript and dissertation writing, and graduation!
Students requiring additional time beyond the 6th year to complete the dissertation will only be allowed to register (and thus to receive financial aid and to use University facilities) with permission from the Graduate School. See Registration beyond the 6th year below (p. 13).
The formal requirements for the Ph.D. in the Cell Biology program are successful completion of the course requirement and the qualifying exam, 2 semesters of teaching, and a dissertation. Each of these requirements is described in detail below.
Students are required to take at least 5 graduate-level courses. No specific curriculum of courses is required, but CBIO602a (Molecular Cell Biology) is recommended for all students to attain a solid foundation in molecular cell biology. Also recommended is a seminar course, such as CBIO603a (Seminar in Molecular Cell Biology) or CBIO606b (Advanced Seminar Course), in which students can develop the skill for critical analysis of research papers. Students design their own curriculum of courses to meet individual interests and needs, in consultation with the DGS.
Students must meet the Graduate School requirement of a grade of Honors in 2 courses, if necessary taking additional courses beyond the 5 required in the department to fulfill this requirement.
Students must also maintain an average grade of High Pass in all courses.
Note that MCGD Track students taking the 3 core courses of the track along with 2 electives in the 1st year will fulfill the course requirement in Cell Biology by the end of the 1st year, assuming they receive at least 2 Honors and maintain a High Pass average.
Students may start to teach in the second year. The requirement is two semesters as a teaching assistant (TA) in any of numerous lecture, laboratory, and seminar courses offered at the undergraduate, graduate, and medical school levels. Students can also receive credit for teaching science to New Haven middle school students through the Science Education Outreach Program (http://www.yale.edu/onhsa/seop.htm). For further information, contact the director of the program, Paula Kavathas, Professor of Laboratory Medicine, Immunobiology, and Genetics (785-6223; paula.kavathas@yale.edu).
Courses having TA positions are listed on the “TA Position Form” available from the BBS office. During the summer, students formally request TA assignments by indicating their top 3 choices on this form, which they submit to the Cell Biology Registrar. The form in turn will be forwarded to the department giving the course that is the student’s first choice. The instructor in charge of the course ultimately chooses the TA’s. Students are encouraged beforehand to seek out the instructor of any course to express their interest in being a TA for that course (e.g., it is okay while taking a course to approach the instructor about being a TA the next time the course is offered).
Students may elect to teach beyond the 2 semesters requirement. Such extra teaching should not take time away from thesis research, however. It should also be remembered that for nearly all students (with the exception of those having outside fellowships) support in years 4 and beyond is provided by the thesis advisor’s research grant. Thus, the student contemplating teaching beyond the teaching requirement must first discuss the matter with the thesis advisor. Priority for assignment as a TA in a Cell Biology course is given to a student needing to fulfill the teaching requirement over a student electing to teach beyond the teaching requirement.
The qualifying exam consists of 1) a written research proposal based on the prospective thesis project and 2) an oral exam in which the student defends the research proposal before a qualifying exam committee.
The qualifying exam committee consists of 3 faculty members, with at least one having a primary or secondary appointment in Cell Biology. This committee will become the student’s thesis committee, but the composition of the latter can be changed as the thesis project evolves. The members of the committee are chosen by the student in consultation with the thesis advisor and with approval from the DGS.
The student will ask one Cell Biology faculty to be the chair of the committee. The chair is responsible for preparing, after the oral exam, a short assessment of the student’s performance in the qualifying exam to be emailed to the DGS and other members of the committee, as well as the student. The chair also acts as moderator of the oral exam.
The DGS should be contacted if any serious problem is encountered during the qualifying exam period.
Students are expected to complete the qualifying exam in the fall semester of the 2nd year.
Summer (June-August)
Fall (September-December)
Students will arrange the schedule of their own exams within the timeframe above and are expected to complete the exam by the end of the fall semester. Students needing extra time to prepare for the exam (for example, a student who did a 4th lab rotation during the summer) may be allowed to have an extension of the deadline or to take the exam in the following spring term. Any exception must be endorsed by the thesis advisor and approved by the DGS.
While preparing for the qualifying exam, students are allowed to take time away from laboratory work but are not exempt from classes.
One of the goals of the qualifying exam is for the student to learn how to write a compelling research proposal. The research proposal should be written in the form of a mini-grant proposal according to the format below. Although the original idea for the thesis project may have come from the thesis advisor, the student is primarily responsible for conceiving and writing the proposal. However, it is expected that the student will discuss and receive feedback about the proposal from the thesis advisor. The student should generate a best effort version of the proposal for the advisor to read, and enough time should be allowed for several rounds of revision. The advisor is expected to have read and approved the final version of the proposal before it is distributed to the qualifying exam committee.
Please follow the format below for the research proposal.
1) Title.
2) Specific Aims. State the specific purposes of the research proposal and the hypotheses to be tested. Should not be longer than 1 page.
3) Background and Significance. Sketch briefly the background to the proposal. State concisely the importance of the research described in the proposal by relating the specific aims to broad, long-term objectives.
4) Research Design and Methods. Describe the following:
Preliminary results, if any (not required).
Research design and procedures to be used to accomplish the specific aims.
Tentative sequence for the investigation.
Potential experimental difficulties should be discussed together with alternative approaches that could achieve the desired aims.
5) Literature Cited.
The proposal should be single spaced in 12-point font with 1-inch margins and should be not more than 10-12 pages long, including tables, figures and references. The student should feel free to look at the proposals of other students who have passed the qualifying exam. The DGS also has copies of proposals that can be consulted.
The student should prepare a short presentation (about 30 minutes) on the research proposal, including background, rationale, and aims, to be given at the beginning of the oral exam. The actual presentation will take longer because the committee will interrupt with questions about the research proposal, often right from the start. The committee will also ask questions to probe the student’s knowledge of the research areas forming the background to the proposal. The thesis advisor is present at the exam and may at the discretion of the committee participate in asking or re-phrasing questions but does not answer questions for the student. Count on the exam taking at least 1 hour and up to 2 hours. At the end, with the student temporarily out of the room, the committee discusses the student’s performance in the oral exam as well as the quality of the written proposal before informing the student of their assessment.
A student can receive a pass or a conditional pass contingent on fulfillment of an additional requirement, e.g., revising the written proposal or writing a paper to remedy an inadequate knowledge of the literature. The committee may also make specific recommendations such as taking a particular course. The student failing the exam may have one more chance to pass the exam at a later time, depending on approval by the DGS and the faculty.
Some students have found it helpful to prepare for the oral exam by taking a mock oral exam involving other students and postdocs acting as the qualifying exam committee.
The prospectus is a statement of what the student intends to do for the dissertation, and an approved prospectus must be submitted to the Graduate School in order for a student to be admitted to candidacy. Because in Cell Biology the proposal for the qualifying exam is based on the student’s thesis project, it is de facto the prospectus, and thus successful completion of the qualifying exam means the student’s prospectus has been approved. After a student has passed the qualifying exam, the DGS will submit to the Graduate School a “Qualifying Exam/Prospectus Certification” for that student along with a copy of the prospectus. For this purpose, rather than writing a new document, students may provide to the DGS a copy of their qualifying exam proposal but with a cover sheet entitled “Prospectus” and containing all other information requested by the Graduate School not in the original written proposal (see Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Programs and Policies).
Admission to candidacy indicates that the department and the Graduate School consider the student prepared to do original and independent research” (from Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Programs and Policies). In order to be admitted to candidacy, the student must 1) fulfill all course requirements, 2) pass the qualifying exam, 3) have an approved prospectus, and 4) receive a positive evaluation on laboratory work from the thesis committee. When a student has met all of these requirements, the DGS will submit to the Graduate School the Certification of Admission to Candidacy” for that student. Admission to candidacy occurs between the 2nd and 3rd years. A student failing to be admitted to candidacy by the end of the 3rd year will not be permitted by the Graduate School to register for the following term.
Students must conduct yearly meetings with their thesis committee to chart the progress of their thesis research towards the completed dissertation. An annual thesis committee meeting is required for registration in the following year. The deadline for the meeting is May 31. This date is chosen because the June faculty meeting is devoted to a review of the progress of all students in the program.
An exception to the May 31 deadline is made for 2nd year students. They may hold their first thesis committee meeting either in the spring or in the summer following completion of the qualifying exam in the fall, depending on the recommendation of their thesis committee. For those students taking the qualifying exam later in the spring of the 2nd year, the first thesis committee meeting should be held by the fall of the 3rd year, and then another meeting should be held toward the end of the 3rd year.
One requirement for admission to candidacy (see above) is a positive evaluation of laboratory work from the thesis committee. The student will receive a positive evaluation for demonstrating that s/he works effectively in the laboratory as reflected in the ability to conduct experiments that push a thesis project forward. The positive evaluation necessary for admission to candidacy may be received as early as the first thesis committee meeting in the 2nd year following the qualifying exam and at the latest by the end of the 3rd year.
After the first thesis committee meeting following the qualifying exam, most students will have subsequent meetings every year in the spring. In later years, often beginning in year 4, students may hold more frequent meetings, for example, one in the fall and another in the spring. However, the progress of the laboratory work will largely determine when and how frequently the thesis committee meeting is held.
Before each meeting, students should prepare a two-page summary of work since the last committee meeting and plans for future experiments (with a timetable). This summary along with the summaries of any previous meetings should be sent to the committee as well as the DGS at least several days before the upcoming meeting. The reason for assembling and providing such a “diary” of your work is that it makes it possible for the committee to evaluate the overall progress of your thesis research. It will be necessary to postpone the meeting if the summary prepared for that meeting is found to be inadequate. Every year the DGS will remind students to schedule a meeting, and students should notify the DGS of the meeting date.
Students and their advisors choose the faculty members of the thesis committee, which are approved by the DGS. The thesis committee must have at least one member who holds a primary or secondary appointment in the Cell Biology Department. One of these Cell Biology faculty members should be chosen to be the chair of the committee. After each thesis committee meeting, it is the responsibility of the chair to email a brief report of the meeting to the DGS, the other members of the committee, and the student.
Students and thesis advisors may choose to alter the composition of the thesis committee in order to reflect changes in direction of the thesis project. Any changes must be approved by the DGS. Thesis committee meetings may be held as frequently as necessary at the request of the student, thesis advisor, or other committee members.
The thesis committee has the major responsibility of deciding when a student has done sufficient work for the Ph.D. and is ready to begin writing the dissertation.
When do you know you’re finished?
A question that probably comes up now and then in the minds of students and faculty as well is, what qualifies as sufficient work for the Ph.D. (and thus for the student to be given by the thesis committee the go-ahead to write the dissertation)? Or in other words, is there a minimal requirement for the Ph.D.? A Ph.D. should represent an original scholarly contribution to one’s field, which in Cell Biology and other experimental sciences means that the student has successfully carried out a series of experiments to test a hypothesis and in the process has gained new knowledge that advances a field. Such an accomplishment usually culminates in at least one first-author paper (several papers in many cases) published in a peer-reviewed journal, and in fact some departments require the submission of a paper as a minimal requirement for the Ph.D. While not having such a requirement, the Cell Biology Department does expect that at least one first-author paper published in a peer-reviewed journal will result from a student’s Ph.D. research. This expectation is usually not difficult to meet, but it underscores the importance of regularly scheduled thesis committee meetings to ensure adequate and timely progress toward finishing the Ph.D.
Before beginning to write the dissertation, please read “Preparation and Submission of the Doctoral Dissertation” (see “Where to get forms” below), and obtain a dissertation packet from the Graduate School. The dissertation packet contains several forms, including the “Notification of Readers Form” that must be signed by the DGS and submitted with the dissertation to the Graduate School.
It may take a couple of months to write the dissertation, or less time for students who have already published papers that will form the core of the dissertation.
Published papers can be simply reformatted to form the core of the dissertation (including changing all the “we’s” to “I’s”). If another person obtained a result shown in the dissertation, then the contribution of this person must be explicitly acknowledged in the text and figure legend.
Copies of the dissertation are distributed to the committee members for their comments, which should be addressed in the final version before its submission to the Graduate School. Committee members should be given adequate time, at least 2 weeks, to read and evaluate the dissertation.
There are 2 deadlines for submission of the dissertation, one in October for a December degree and the other in March for a May degree. The Graduate School does not make any exception to these deadlines, which have been picked to give readers adequate time to evaluate the dissertation.
Upon receipt, the Graduate School will send the dissertation out for evaluation by 3 readers, with at least 2 having tenure or a tenure track position at Yale. As Cell Biology does not require an outside reader (i.e., outside Yale), unlike some departments, 3 members of the thesis committee, except the thesis adviser, would be appropriate as readers. After all reader evaluation forms have been returned to the Graduate School and all requested changes to the dissertation have been made, the DGS acting on behalf of the entire Cell Biology faculty will sign the form recommending award of the Ph.D. degree. Then the Graduate School Degree Committee and finally the Yale Corporation will vote to approve conferral of the degree.
Students are required to present a seminar on their thesis work. This seminar is usually scheduled just prior to submission of the dissertation. Like all other Cell Biology seminars, the thesis seminar will be open to the university community. The thesis seminar is conducted like a defense, so the thesis committee will meet with the student after the seminar. At this time, the thesis committee may ask questions beyond those asked at the end of the seminar. Then the student may be asked to leave the room while the committee decides whether the thesis work presented in the seminar and in the dissertation is acceptable for award of the Ph.D. degree. After making any changes to the dissertation requested by the committee, the dissertation is submitted to the Graduate School. Occasionally, it may be necessary to submit the dissertation before the thesis seminar (e.g., if it is not possible to schedule the seminar before the submission deadline). However, in this case, the student still has to give the thesis committee plenty of time to read the dissertation and must make all requested changes to the dissertation before submitting it to the Graduate School.
The Master of Philosophy is awarded to Cell Biology graduate students en route to the Ph.D. A student is eligible for this degree after having been admitted to candidacy. No petition for the degree needs to be filed, as the Graduate School will automatically confer the degree at the next degree granting date (either December or May) after receiving the Certificate of Admission to Candidacy from the DGS.
The Master of Science is a terminal degree normally awarded only to graduate students who are withdrawing from the Ph.D. program. In order to be awarded the M.S. degree, a student must have an overall grade average of High Pass in graduate level courses, including 2 Honors in full-term courses.
Please note that there are 2 deadlines, one in October and the other in March, for degree petitions to be submitted to the Graduate School. See below for where the petition can be obtained.
Many of the forms that graduate students will need to fill out during their studies, including petitions for degrees, are downloadable at:
http://www.yale.edu/graduateschool/academics/forms.html
Students are required to submit an annual dissertation progress report to the Graduate School, mapping out their achievements in the past year, and goals and timeframe for the upcoming year.
For training grant purposes, students are requested to list on this form any publications, meeting abstracts, and meetings and retreats attended.
Each year in April, students who have advanced to candidacy but not yet petitioned for the PhD will receive an email from the Graduate School notifying them to complete the online dissertation progress report. Once completed, the thesis advisor and the DGS will be notified to review and approve the report. A student who fails to complete the dissertation progress report at the end of the spring term will not be allowed by the Graduate School to register in the following fall term.
Students must register with the Graduate School each term until the dissertation is submitted or 6 years of study have been completed. Beginning the 5th year, students must submit the “Continuous Registration Form” to the Graduate School. The department will pay for the student’s continuous registration fee.
The Graduate School does not require students to register beyond the 6th year for submission of the dissertation or award of the Ph.D. degree. However, registration is required to receive financial support, including stipend and health insurance, and to use the University facilities. Thus, from this viewpoint it may be advantageous for students to register even if they have only a few months beyond the end of the 6th year to finish the dissertation. This matter should be discussed with the thesis advisor.
Students intending to register beyond the 6th year must fill out a “Petition for Extended Registration,” which requires approval by the DGS. (Usually, students submit this form at the same time that they submit the annual dissertation progress report.) The Petition for Extended Registration should be filled out and given to the Cell Biology Registrar along with a copy of the most recent dissertation progress and a letter to the DGS detailing the reasons for the petition. After obtaining the DGS signature, the Registrar will forward the petition to the Graduate School. Final approval by the Graduate School is contingent on certification from the thesis advisor and the DGS that the student will work full-time and is on track to complete the dissertation by the end of the extended registration period.
For the duration of their studies in the Cell Biology program, students will be given full financial support, including stipend, full tuition, and health coverage. The annual stipend in 2007-8 will be $28,000.
Students are supported during the 1st 3 years by NIH training grants or other university funds. Some students receive fellowships from the National Science Foundation. BBS students in the first year are requested to apply for the NSF fellowship, and BBS faculty members have an obligation to help students with the research proposal for the fellowship application. Students at the beginning of the 2nd year are still eligible to apply for the NSF fellowship, and 2nd and 3rd year students are eligible to apply for the individual pre-doctoral fellowship offered by the NIH. Cell Biology students are strongly encouraged to apply for any fellowship for which they are eligible, since being awarded a fellowship is considered a prestigious achievement.
After support from training grants and fellowships ends, the thesis advisor is responsible for providing full financial support, including stipend, tuition, and fees (health and registration).
Cell Biology students in years 4 and beyond (including MD/PhD students) are eligible for $300 each year in travel money from the department to help defray the cost of attending a scientific meeting. Priority will be given to students who are presenting a talk or poster, but students who are not presenting may still qualify assuming they can provide a good justification for attending a particular meeting and assuming funds are still available. Students should contact the DGS to apply for the travel money. After the meeting, students receiving departmental travel money are required to provide to the DGS a short 1-paragraph summary of what they got out of the meeting.
Students in years 1-3 supported by training grants and university fellowships are eligible to receive comparable travel money from those sources. They should contact Naomi DiGioia, the Cell Biology registrar, about requesting this money.
The Cell Biology Department has a longstanding weekly Progress Report series in which graduate students and postdocs give talks about their research in front of the whole department. This is a great forum for everyone to hear and learn about the research going on in other labs, and for both graduate students and postdocs to hone their presentation skills. Every Cell Biology student is expected to present a Progress Report talk each year beginning the 3rd year.
Progress Report is held in C429 SHM on Friday from 11 AM to noon during most of the year except in summer. Each speaker has 30 min for the talk and questions. During the summer, Carl Hashimoto (carl.hashimoto@yale.edu) and Jennifer Scopp (jennifer.scopp@yale.edu) will request from each PI the names of lab members to be put on the progress report speakers list for the coming year. Students 3rd year and up are required to give a progress report every year and are automatically scheduled unless a special waiver is requested by the student’s PI. It is the responsibility of the speaker, and ultimately of the speaker’s PI, to find a replacement in case the speaker cannot speak on the assigned date. Each speaker is required to submit the talk title to Jennifer at least a week prior to the scheduled date of the talk.
Refreshments of bagels, muffins, and coffee/tea are served.
The Cell Biology Department hosts a weekly seminar series in which scientists from other institutions or from other Yale departments are invited to talk about their research. The seminar is generally held on Wednesday at noon in varying rooms at the medical school, including C429 SHM, 101 Hope, and Brady Auditorium. Coffee/tea and cookies are available 15 minutes before the seminar. It is expected that all students will attend all of the seminars offered by the Cell Biology seminar series, regardless of topic.
Students and postdocs, in addition to faculty, are strongly encouraged to invite and host seminar speakers. Please discuss names of potential speakers with Elisabetta Ullu (elisabetta.ullu@yale.edu), the faculty currently in charge of the seminar series. Alternatively, suggest names to Chris Mader (christopher.mader@yale.edu) or Hanna Chapin (hannah.chapin@yale.edu), the current student representatives on the seminar committee. Jennifer Scopp (jennifer.scopp@yale.edu) is in charge of travel arrangements, seminar announcements, and meeting appointments for seminar speakers. Hosts are responsible for ensuring that their speakers have an enjoyable time while visiting the department.
Students and postdocs are also strongly encouraged to attend the lunch with the seminar speaker held immediately after the seminar, usually in room C225 SHM. In addition to a free lunch, this is a great opportunity to meet the seminar speaker. Please contact Jennifer if interested in having lunch with a particular seminar speaker.
Once a year in the fall the whole department goes on a retreat. In 2006, we went for a 1-day retreat to Water’s Edge Resort and Spa in Westbrook, CT, not more than 45 minutes away from New Haven. The retreat provides a relaxed setting for all members of the department to engage in scientific discussions and in social activities. In addition to talks and a poster session, a highlight of the retreat is a skit put on by 2nd year graduate students lampooning the faculty. The PI’s grants cover the cost of attending the retreat for students and postdocs. Contact Jennifer Scopp (jennifer.scopp@yale.edu) for further information about the retreat.
The department has a happy hour on Friday 5-7 PM, held once a month in BCMM 208. Marc Pypaert (marc.pypaert@yale.edu) is the organizer responsible for the excellent varieties of wine, beer, cheese and other food featured at the happy hour. Each happy hour is hosted by one or two labs, which are responsible for setting up the refreshments and cleanup. A flyer announcing the happy hour should also be created by the hosting labs and emailed to Jennifer Scopp (jennifer.scopp@yale.edu) about a week before the date of the happy hour so that it can be disseminated and posted. A list of the hosting labs is circulated. Admission is free, and all are encouraged to attend!
The Cell Biology Department has a graduate education committee of faculty that reviews policies, resolves issues, and makes recommendations and decisions pertaining to the Cell Biology graduate program. In addition to the DGS, the current members are Susan Ferro-Novick (susan.ferronovick@yale.edu) and Pete Takizawa (peter.takizawa@yale.edu).
For required signatures on forms and for help in resolving questions and problems with regard to working in the Cell Biology Department and to graduate studies at Yale, students should contact the following individuals.
Carl Hashimoto
Office/Lab: SHM C215
Phone: 737-2746
Email: carl.hashimoto@yale.edu
The DGS is responsible for administration of the graduate program and for overseeing the academic and research progress of all students in the program. The DGS also acts as liaison between the students and the Graduate School Dean’s office. Students should feel free to contact the DGS to discuss any issue regarding their studies and research.
Naomi DiGioia
Office: SHM C207
Phone: 785-7462
Email: naomi.digioia@yale.edu
The Registrar is the communication hub between students, the DGS, and the Graduate School, and assists the DGS in administering the graduate program.
Location: SHM C207
Fax: 785-7446
Brian Warner, Business Manager
Phone: 785-5272
Email: brian.warner@yale.edu
The main contact for all Cell Biology departmental financial matters.
Marsha Maresca, Operations Manager
Phone: 785-7444
Email: marsha.maresca@yale.edu
The main contact for all Cell Biology departmental operations matters, including payroll and personnel issues. Graduate student funding and website.
Jennifer Scopp, Senior Administrative Assistant
Office: SHM C207
Phone: 785-4320
Email: jennifer.scopp@yale.edu
Coordinator/organizer for seminar series, progress reports, immigration matters, retreat.
Pansy Walters, Senior Administrative Assistant
Phone: 785-4311
Email: pansy.walters@yale.edu
Purchasing coordinator, IDs, keys, reimbursements, petty cash.
Naomi DiGioia, Grants Coordinator/Registrar
Phone: 785-7462
Email: naomi.digioia@yale.edu
Responsible for grant applications, TA assignments and graduate student registrar.
John Alvaro, Administrative Director
Office: SHM L200c
Phone: 785-3735
Email: john.alvaro@yale.edu
Richard Sleight, Associate Dean
Office: HGS 132
Phone: 432-2744
Email: richard.sleight@yale.edu
Dean Sleight oversees all graduate programs in the natural sciences.
Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) http://www.yale.edu/assembly
The Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) is the elected body of Yale students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The Assembly's goals are to (1) identify the needs and concerns of graduate students, consider possible solutions, and present these to the Dean and other administrators, (2) discuss and advise on changes to Graduate School policy proposed by the administration, and (3) provide a means for communication and deliberation both among graduate students and between grad students and other members of the university community. Student representatives are elected from each department in the Graduate School.
Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) http://www.yalegpss.org
The Yale Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) is a student government organization representing over 5,000 graduate and professional students at Yale. Its goal is to foster interaction between graduate and professional students through the congregation of student groups at the Graduate and Professional Student Center at Yale (GPSCY), the sponsorship of academic, intellectual events, and social events, and through community service and charitable events. The GPSS influences the course of the University through, representation on University Committees, by expressing views of the student body to the administration, and by issuing statements of our position to the media and administration. The Senate stands at the intersection of subsets of the Yale Graduate and Professional Student community, Yale Undergraduates, Faculty and Staff of Yale University, Yale Alumni, and the New Haven Community.
Please consult the Programs and Policies bulletin of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for additional resources available to graduate students.
©
Yale School of Medicine
Last updated
8/9/07
Privacy policy Site editor
