The Integrated Program in Biochemistry (IPiB) is excited to welcome its newest class of graduate students. With orientation and the annual IPiB Retreat under their belts, the class is entering its first round of lab rotations.
“The incoming class is an enthusiastic and engaging group of students,” says Professor Mike Sheets, who is part of the New Student Orientation Committee. “We look forward to helping them navigate through the first semester and identify labs for their thesis work.”
The 2019 class of 22 represents students who obtained undergraduate degrees from almost every part of the United States — both coasts, as well as the South and Midwest, including Wisconsin — and four different countries overall.
“I am super excited about the supportive community here that does great science,” says new student Bianca Chavez. “Madison is very friendly and seems like an awesome place to study for graduate school.”
Students took part in orientation and IPiB Welcome Picnic in late August and in early September attended the IPiB Retreat to continue to meet their fellow graduate students and learn more about the research taking place in each lab. Students perform three rotations in different labs during the fall semester before selecting a thesis lab in December.
“I applied to the UW–Madison Integrated Program in Biochemistry because it is highly ranked and has great research topics,” says Nithesh Chandrasekharan, a student in the new cohort. “However, it was after I came to the recruitment weekend that I felt like this was the place for me, mainly because of the people I met at the time.”