Growing up in southwestern Wisconsin, Aly Pfaff always knew she wanted to attend UW–Madison for its strong academics and research opportunities. Now nearing commencement, when Pfaff will graduate with a master’s degree in Epidemiology, she has achieved that goal and gone above and beyond.
“I really wanted research opportunities and a great academic opportunity as well,” Pfaff said, “and I’ve really enjoyed my time here.”
Researchers like Claire Griesbach, a PhD candidate in Engineering Mechanics at UW–Madison, are at the forefront of developing more advanced nuclear technologies that can continue to power the country with clean energy.
Physics PhD student Margaret Fortman received the 2022 Google Fellowship in Quantum Computing, and computer sciences PhD student Shashank Rajput received the 2022 Google Fellowship in Machine Learning.
Growing up as a golfer and someone passionate about sustainability, Michael Bekken wanted a career that would allow him to combine the two.
Coming to UW–Madison for graduate school not only allowed him to do that but also expanded his idea of what was possible for him – and has sent him in a new direction for his next journey in life.
When she was young, Elise Marifian was already curious about poverty and the major discrepancies between what people have or don’t have. Over time, other experiences underscored that curiosity and homed in on what would eventually become the topic of her PhD dissertation: the effect of TV advertising on college enrollment decisions.
Chagai Weiss builds on existing theories in political science and psychology to study how people think about members of an ethnic group that is different than them.
Julia Martien found it overwhelming when she began to receive awards recognizing the contributions she’s made to UW–Madison. She recently received the Jennifer L. Reed Bioenergy Science Award, which recognizes an early-career woman who has made significant contributions to the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center’s research portfolio.
And this month, she’ll be the flag bearer for the Graduate School at the Winter 2021 Commencement ceremony, where she will graduate with her PhD in microbiology.
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.
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.
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.