Student Organizations

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

Jeremy Gaison (jeremy.gaison@yale.edu)
Catherine Matulis (catherine.matulis@yale.edu)
Ryan Petersburg (ryan.petersburg@yale.edu)
Estella Barbosa de Souza (estella.desouza@yale.edu)

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)

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 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: Wyatt Kremer (wyatt.kremer@yale.edu) and Barkotel Zemenu (barkotel.zemenu@yale.edu)
Treasurer: Argyris Giannisis Manes (argyris.giannisismanes@yale.edu)
Outreach Chairs: Rose Branson (rose.branson@yale.edu) & TBA
Media Developers: Ryan Bose-Roy (ryan.bose-roy@yale.edu) & TBA
Prize Lecture Chair: Maddie Butchko (maddie.butchko@yale.edu)
Liason to National SPS: David Saunders (d.saunders@yale.edu) & Ruthie Gu (ruthie.gu@yale.edu)
DEI Liaison: TBA
Physics Community Coordinator: Misheal Saah (misheal.saah@yale.edu)

Faculty Advisor

Sarah Demers (sarah.demers@yale.edu)