PhD student Alex Wang was named an outstanding graduate student in the Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program. Through the program he will have a chance to aid in the search for evidence of an extremely rare case where two Higgs boson particles appear at the same time, called di-Higgs production.
graduate student research
PhD student-advisor pairs awarded HHMI Gilliam Fellowships for research, inclusion initiatives
Two student-advisor pairs at UW–Madison have received Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). HHMI Gilliam Fellowships have a twofold mission: to support underrepresented PhD students to pursue scientific research and to foster more inclusive academic environments at institutions that are committed to advancing diversity and inclusion in the sciences.
Using ‘living fossils’, graduate student investigates evolution and antibiotic resistance
All gardeners know what it’s like to try and weed a garden. Even when you keep up with it, sometimes you miss a root or a seed, and the weeds grow back.
As it turns out, this experience applies not only to human gardeners but also to a type of ant that farms its own garden of fungus.
PhD candidate Kirsten Gotting studies evolutionary biology and fungus-growing ants as a member of the Currie Lab in the Department of Bacteriology and the Genetics Training Program. The Currie Lab’s collection of leaf-cutter ants, one of many types of fungus-growing ant, offers a window into the relationships between the ants, the fungus, and other pathogens and bacteria.
American Bar Foundation fellowship supports PhD candidate’s work on immigration and criminal law
PhD candidate Isabel Anadon has received a prestigious fellowship from the American Bar Foundation to support her research on immigration policy and criminal law. Anadon is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology and a fellow with the UW Justice Lab.
Cortney Anderson Kramer
PhD candidate, Art History
If you’ve ever driven by a roadside concrete art park – think sculptures, grottos, or even houses – and been intrigued, art history PhD candidate Cortney Anderson Kramer is the person to ask. Kramer studies and writes about this unique art style in the Midwest.
With NASA award, PhD student seeks answers to life’s biggest questions
Lena Vincent started her career as a graduate student with big questions: How did life begin? Does life exist elsewhere in the universe?
“Realizing that you can turn these existential questions that everyone asks themselves into a scientific career was really exciting,” said Vincent, a PhD student in David Baum’s lab at UW–Madison.
Ant armor may provide insight into mineral formation
Geoscience graduate student Yihang Fang will test whether protein control is the mechanism helping leaf-cutter ants form a layer of mineral “armor” as a fellow at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of Natural History.
PhD candidate Xiao receives Newcombe Fellowship
UW–Madison geography PhD candidate Allen Xiao has been awarded a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Xiao’s dissertation explores how residents of Lagos, Nigeria, tell stories of and relate to their life experiences in the largest city in Africa.
Coronavirus sequencing leads to insights on transmission, vaccine development
Graduate student Katarina Braun and Gage Moreno’s work with sequencing the 2019 novel coronavirus has helped scientists better understand how the virus has traveled in Wisconsin and whether the protective equipment and safety protocols used in local hospitals are effective.
PhD candidate Villarroel explores the concept of the feminine through art and history
Art history PhD candidate Fernanda Villarroel has received two national fellowships that support her scholarship exploring the concept of the feminine through historical and contemporary art in Africa.