Student Organizations

The BioSoftMatter discussion group is a new effort to bring researchers in computational and theoretical biological physics and soft condensed matter from across Yale together to talk research, literature, and everything in between. Our goal is to create dialogue between theorists and experimentalists interested in the strange and wonderful properties found in soft, biological, and active materials. If you think your research could benefit from a nice literature survey, if you want to meet more biological and soft matter physicists, or if you just want to hear more about this fascinating area of research, please join us!

Daniel Seara (daniel.seara@yale.edu)

Gender Representation in Physics (GRiP) is focused on fostering a supportive environment for underrepresented genders in the Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy departments. We coordinate mentoring and social events for graduate students, post-docs, research scientists, and faculty. The group and many events are open to all allies in the department, from whom we welcome support for our initiatives.

Committee

Co-Chairs: Katie Chang and Molly Watts
Administrator: Emily Pottebaum
Social Chair: Maya Moore
Publicity Co-Chairs
 Social Media: Harper Cho and Celin Hidalgo
 Newsletter: Sylvi Stoller
 Website: Emily Pottebaum
Advocacy Co-Chairs
 Ally group coordinator: Sylvi Stoller
 Undergraduate mentorship and event coordinators: Ally Culbert and Claire Laffan
 Public outreach coordinators: Joy Pajarla and Xiran Bai
First Year Liaisons: Halona Dantes and Morgan Knuesel

Faculty Advisor

Simon Mochrie

Further Information

https://physics.yale.edu/women-physics

The Graduate Student Advisory Committee serves as a point of communication between the graduate students and the administration of the department. The committee advises the Chair, the DGS, and other faculty on matters related to graduate students and the graduate program, including (but not limited to) helping plan and organize annually scheduled departmental events. The committee members also advocate on behalf of graduate students with the Chair and DGS. Committee members meet with the Chair and DGS once a month. The committee also meets internally once a month while regularly soliciting feedback from other students in their cohorts.

2023 members include:

Andrew Neely (Year 2)
Andy Ding (Year 5)
Braedyn Au (Year 3)
Charles Lomba (Year 4)
Katie Chang (Year 3)

 

The Graduate Student Assembly is an elected body of Yale students representing every department in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The Assembly’s goals are to identify the needs and concerns of graduate students, consider possible solutions, and present these to the Dean and other administrators. We also discuss, propose, and advise on possible changes to Graduate School policy proposed by the administration in our biweekly meetings. All graduate students are welcome to sit in on these meetings and join the discussion! Please reach out to your physics department representatives if you have questions or concerns regarding the department, the Graduate School, or the university as a whole. Elections for new representatives are held every April.

Current representatives

Charles Lomba (charles.lomba@yale.edu)
Harper Cho (harper.cho@yale.edu)
Jesse Farr (jesse.farr@yale.edu)
Katie Chang (katie.chang@yale.edu)

HoFoP is an interdisciplinary group of students and faculty at Yale dedicated to exploring and discussing topics in the philosophy and history of physics, and of science more broadly.  We engage with foundational texts as well as with contemporary ideas and guest speakers.  Meetings are once a month.

Contact: Yarone Tokayer

Faculty Advisor: Priya Natarajan

QuARK (Queer Affiliated fRiends of physiKs) is an organization focused on inclusion and support of members of the LGBTQ+ community in physics. Open to all queer-identifying members of the department (students/staff/faculty, etc.), we coordinate regular gatherings of a casual nature to discuss topical issues and foster community. Additionally, we organize occasional outreach events to interface with the department and broader Yale community.

Future plans are to start having biweekly Zoom meetings over the summer so that we can have a community while we deal with the pandemic, and once we return to campus we would like to invite speakers to give talks about both their work and being queer as a physicist. We also want to have ally mixers once a semester, where we invite anybody who wants to come to have a picnic or play board games, or something else like that. Finally, we are planning on having mixers among different departments. The first one might be a mixer with the History department’s queer group. 

Caitie Beattie Caitie.Beattie@yale.edu

Sumita Ghosh sumita.ghosh@yale.edu

Faculty Advisor

Jack Harris (jack.harris@yale.edu)

We are an academic organization formed to promote and facilitate the participation of undergraduates in quantum information science at Yale.

Current Officers:

Sofia Fausone ‘24 (co-president)

Pranav Parakh ‘24 (co-president)

Pranet Sharma ‘26 (Events Coordinator)

Zachary Zitzewitz ‘26 (Social Chair)

Brennan Lagasse ‘26 (Invited Talks Director)

Shaun Pexton ‘26 (Treasurer)

Mason Abrell ‘26 (Projects Manager)

Jeb Cui ‘26 (Website Manager)

George Holm ‘26 (Sponsorships & Outreach)

Once a month, usually on a Friday afternoon, the physics department holds a departmental happy hour.  The happy hour is a chance for physics graduate students, faculty and staff to socialize and build relationships in a relaxed environment.  The department provides free food, including pizza and snacks, as well as a variety of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.  The event is usually held inside Sloane Physics Laboratory or, weather permitting, in the courtyard outside Sloane.

Committee

Charles Lomba (charles.lomba@yale.edu)

Faculty Advisor

Rona Ramos (rona.ramos@yale.edu)

The Yale Physics Professional Development Organization (YPPDO) is a graduate student-led organization that provides professional development resources to physical science PhD students and postdocs. In particular, the YPPDO focuses on exposing PhD students and postdocs to non-academic career opportunities and providing them with opportunities to develop the skills required to make the transition to these fields.  We accomplish that by inviting physics PhDs, especially Yale Physics alumni, to speak about their career trajectories into other industries and by hosting skill-building workshops. Finally, the YPPDO collaborates with several organizations on campus to optimize the resources available to our student and postdocs populations. 

2019-2020 board

Estella Barbosa de Souza (Estella.desouza@yale.edu)
Mary Lou Bailey (marylou.bailey@yale.edu)
Emma Castiglia (emma.castiglia@yale.edu)

The Society of Physics Students at Yale is a registered undergraduate organization dedicated to serving the physics community. Yale SPS hosts weekly study sessions (lovingly dubbed “pizza and pset night”) as well as biweekly dinners with students and physics faculty. We also organize bi-annual prize lectures where distinguished physicists are invited to speak and spend the day with undergraduate students. Additionally, the Society of Physics Students serves as a platform for mentorship and community-building – we host social events, and maintain a variety of resources and student-oriented help guides on our website. Yale SPS works very closely with the Physics Department, the Student Advisory Committee for Physics, and the department-elected peer mentors.

Finally, Yale SPS is a chapter of the national Society of Physics Students, as well as a member organization of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) since 1998. We thus provide students access to AIP memberships and associated benefits, such as journal/magazine access and information about scholarships.

Current officers

Co-Presidents: Aaron Chizhik and Andrew Nupp
Vice President: Robin Tsai
Treasurer: Henry Kaplan
Outreach Chairs: Ryan Bose-Roy and Ethan Martinez
Website and Media Developer: Jerry Li
Prize Lecture Chair: Max Watzky
Liason to National SPS/Sigma Pi Sigma Liason: Nikita Mazotov
DEI Liaison: Maddi Brown
Physics Community Coordinators:  Anh-Thai  Le and  Matthew Balestier

Faculty Advisor

Sarah Demers

We are an undergraduate student organization that undertakes a number of initiatives to support women and gender minorities in STEM, especially in the physical sciences. We serve the Yale community by hosting lunches, talks, mentoring programs, and social events. All are welcome to join us for our Tuesday night study halls! (Location TBA).

If you want to learn more about us, check out the rest of our website, our CUWiP website, or our Facebook page!

2022-2023 board:

Co-President: Katerina Kargioti (katerina.kargioti@yale.edu)
Co-President: Melanie King (melanie.king@yale.edu)
Outreach Chair: Sally Jiang (sally.jiang@yale.edu)
Projects Chair: Julia Levy (julia.levy@yale.edu)
Treasurer: Olivia Aspegren (olivia.aspegren@yale.edu)
Assistant Treasurer: Sofia Fausone (sofia.fausone@yale.edu)
Community Liaison: Anavi Uppal (anavi.uppal@yale.edu)
Mentorship Chair: Juliana Karp (juliana.karp@yale.edu)
Study Hall Chair: Elsa Durcan (elsa.durcan@yale.edu)
Graduate Liaison: Sumita Ghosh (sumita.ghosh@yale.edu)
Graduate Liaison: Samantha Pagan (samantha.pagan@yale.edu)

Faculty Advisor

Reina Maruyama (reina.maruyama@yale.edu)

Further Information

https://physics.yale.edu/women-physics

STEM Student Organizations @ Yale

Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association

The Yale Undergraduate Aerospace Association promotes and advances aerospace engineering through collaboration, innovation, and outreach. YUAA cultivates leaders who meet challenges with discipline and creativity.

Yale Undergraduate Quantum Computing

We are an academic organization formed to promote and facilitate the participation of undergraduates in quantum information science at Yale.

SACNAS Chapter at Yale

Yale SACNAS is an inclusive organization dedicated to fostering the success of under represented minorities in attaining advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in STEM. We aim to foster community and promote the SACNAS mission.

Women in Science at Yale

As WISAY (Women in Science at Yale), we are dedicated to promoting the interests of female, transgender, and non-binary scientists and advocating for gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  Our community is welcoming not only to women and gender minorities at Yale, but to everyone who is interested in promoting gender equality in science and research.

Yale University Science Olympiad

YUSO is the first collegiate Science Olympiad invitational, and was originally founded as Science Olympiad Volunteers in 2013 by Ike Lee ‘15, Xiyu Wang ‘15, and Nick Billmyer ‘16. The three were looking to remain involved with Science Olympiad in college, and started to volunteer at local competitions. They quickly found that hosting an invitational on Yale’s campus was the best way to help the SciOly community in the Northeast, especially the newer developing teams in Connecticut. By working with state directors, regional coordinators, the University, teachers, and countless Yale students, we put together the nation’s first college student-run tournament in January 2014 and continue to host an invitational every year.