The Department of Physics & Astronomy's Graduate Student Advisory Council (GSAC) serves to provide support and advice to all current and prospective graduate students in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Utah, from the application process to course work, research, and graduation. More specifically, GSAC:
- Provides advice and council regarding coursework, research, graduation, and career planning for prospective, incoming, current, and defending graduate students
- Makes recommendations to the department and university in the Retention, Promotion, & Tenure (RPT) process for departmental faculty
- Organizes the Graduate Research Seminar, Peer Mentor Program, and Graduate Student Socials
- Provides recommendations and support in development of new departmental policy
For more information about GSAC, current and upcoming events, and more, please see below. If you have any questions, please contact us!
Graduate Research Seminar
Spring 2024 GRS sign-ups are live. All talks this spring will be on Mondays from 3-4PM in JFB 206.
In addition to the usual grad student talks where grads give 15-60 minutes talks in preparation for conferences, qualifying exams, dissertation defenses, etc., GSAC will be inviting folks from outside the department to give professional development talks, like the following:
- Experts with Physics Ph.D's who have transitioned to careers in industry
- Folks from the Graduate School to discuss fellowships, applying to jobs, preparing dissertations, etc.
- Faculty from other departments/universities who identify as members of underrepresented minorities (URM)
- Faculty from other departments/universities to discuss networking at conferences
Graduate Student Socials
Stay tuned for updates from the GSAC email and any questions/ideas should go to our Social Committee Chair, Amaya Sinha. Generally, expect one social a month.
GSAC Leadership
Each year, GSAC holds elections with the entire graduate student body to elect new GSAC leadership and members. Each official position is a one-year term, and graduate students are invited to serve in either official positions or as general officers.
The official positions of GSAC, and brief descriptions, are given below:
Chair: Oversees all aspects of GSAC organization and activity. This includes coordinating and overseeing GSAC's RPT process, GSAC's web presence, coordination of strategic plans with departmental staff and faculty, acting as member of College of Science Council, etc.
Chair-Elect: Supports and shadows GSAC Chair to become familiar with all aspects of GSAC. Oversees the Graduate Research Seminar.
Treasurer: Maintains and tracks all GSAC finances, including for Peer Mentor Program, Graduate Student Social, Graduate Student Lounge, Graduate Research Seminar, etc. Organizes and maintains the Peer Mentor Program.
Social Coordinator: Oversees the Graduate Student Social Committee. Organizes, attends, and runs all Graduate Student Socials. Supports departmental efforts focused on recruitment efforts and activities for prospective and incoming graduate students.
Historian: Maintains, organizes, and distributes records of all GSAC meetings and correspondences within GSAC, as well as with departmental faculty, leadership, and students.
Meet the 2024-2025 GSAC Leadership
Samantha Creech (Chair)
Joshua Ratajczak (Chair-Elect)
Simon Filbert (Treasurer)
Anne Duerr (Historian)
Ben Gibson (Past chair)
Social Committee
Anne Duerr
David Ohlson
Nathan Chanhyun Pak
Simon Filbert
Zachary Carter
General Officers
Amaya Sinha
Chase Hatcher
Dinesh Yadav
Joshua Bartkoske
Kameron Goold
Lincoln Draper
Madison Swirtz
Navaneetha Valsen
Olugbenga Olabiyi
Pengfei Li
Prakash Bissokarma
GSAC always welcomes graduate students to contact us regarding questions, comments, or concerns. We meet with prospective and incoming students to discuss planning and managing coursework, choosing research groups, campus life, and more.
Please email us at physics.gsac@gmail.com or use this Google Form to contact us with any questions, comments, or concerns. If you wish to remain anonymous, please use the Google Form, which has options for anonymity.