News & Announcements

On March 28, the Graduate School held its annual 3-Minute Thesis Competition, which invites Yale graduate students from across the disciplines present their research in a friendly competition to win recognition and cash prizes. This year's first-prize winner was Jiawen Zhang, a fourth-year PhD student in Cellular and Molecular Physiology who presented on "Cracking the Code of Seasonal Energy Saving.”

In Fall 2025, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will establish a new doctoral fellowship to support a cohort of PhD students engaged in planetary solutions research. The application deadline is April 14.

In partnership with Yale College and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Yale Planetary Solutions launched Impact! to provide support for small, dynamic teams of students, faculty, and staff to pursue small-scale projects focused on planetary solutions challenges. Selected projects are aimed at analyzing variation in local air quality; building a research network for sustainable fashion consumption; and documenting New Haven’s environmental history.

With the announcement of new investments to support expanded class sizes at Yale College, the university will also be committing additional resources to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

In December 2024, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences conferred 184 graduate degrees. Of those, 39 doctoral graduates were awarded distinction for their dissertations, an honor given when all readers unanimously recognize the work as outstanding scholarship. The distinguished graduates represent programs across the Graduate School, with projects ranging from neuroscience to English literature.

After learning that he had been awarded the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences this week, the first person James A. Robinson ’93 PhD texted was Truman Bewley, who was his thesis advisor at Yale more than 30 years ago.

Bilige Yang, a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, discusses his research on soft robotics and a gecko-inspired robot that amputates its own limbs to survive.

In a newly published book, Yale PhD candidate Fiona Bell introduces Avdotya Panaeva’s once-banned novel — and a gritty perspective on imperial Russia — to western readers.

On October 7, four alumni of the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences were awarded Wilbur Lucius Cross Medals during a ceremony at Yale. The four honorees are Anne Ferguson-Smith ’89 PhD (Biology), Kai Li '86 PhD (Computer Science), and John Guillory ’79 PhD (English Language and Literature). James C. Scott, '67, PhD (Political Science), was honored posthumously.

In a Q&A, Yale PhD student Ruixiao Wang (Statistics & Data Science) discusses a campus colloquium series she organized that aims to bring Yale alumnae who are prominent data scientists — including Columbia’s Cynthia Rush (’16 PhD, Statistics) and AT&T’s Elena Khusainova (’20 PhD, Statistics & Data Science) — in conversation with students.