The BCMB Graduate Student Organization (GSO) supports graduate students by organizing social, outreach, and professional events. Founded in 2016, the first GSO members were enterprising graduate students who had been involved in organizing holiday parties, the fall retreat, and interview weekend. Since then, GSO has undertaken other ventures to help make BCMB an even better place for graduate students.

One of the goals is to provide graduate students with unique opportunities to learn useful skills and hear interesting speakers. In 2017, GSO organized a CRISPR workshop and invited professionals from the field to provide hands-on training and tips for successful CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. They also hosted a “Creating Art for STEM” workshop, where participants learned to apply design principles when creating figures for publications and presentations. The event also featured a keynote speech by the managing Illustrator/Designer for Cell, Yvonne Blanco. In October 2017, BCMB GSO hosted Martin Chalfie, a recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Another goal of the BCMB GSO is to facilitate communication between the faculty and graduate students. To further this aim, GSO hosts a town hall meeting every spring, which is a discussion forum between the department head and the graduate students. Students used this meeting to successfully advocate for the return of BCMB 615, which is a source of 600-level class credits.

The BCMB Graduate Student Organization (GSO) supports graduate students by organizing social, outreach, and professional events. Founded in 2016, the first GSO members were enterprising graduate students who had been involved in organizing holiday parties, the fall retreat, and interview weekend. Since then, GSO has undertaken other ventures to help make BCMB an even better place for graduate students.

One of the goals is to provide graduate students with unique opportunities to learn useful skills and hear interesting speakers. In 2017, GSO organized a CRISPR workshop and invited professionals from the field to provide hands-on training and tips for successful CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. They also hosted a “Creating Art for STEM” workshop, where participants learned to apply design principles when creating figures for publications and presentations. The event also featured a keynote speech by the managing Illustrator/Designer for Cell, Yvonne Blanco. In October 2017, BCMB GSO hosted Martin Chalfie, a recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his contributions to the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Another goal of the BCMB GSO is to facilitate communication between the faculty and graduate students. To further this aim, GSO hosts a town hall meeting every spring, which is a discussion forum between the department head and the graduate students. Students used this meeting to successfully advocate for the return of BCMB 615, which is a source of 600-level class credits.