We are committed to maintaining a supportive and inclusive academic community at the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where students from diverse backgrounds and experiences can thrive and achieve their personal and professional goals. We look forward to meeting with you.
As a graduate student, you aspire to learn material at a deeper level than you encountered in your undergraduate studies. Perhaps you want to contribute new knowledge to your field, do research that will impact public policy, or give back to your community through teaching. Whatever brings you here, and whatever your background or identity, Yale can help you achieve your goals.
Our mission at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is to educate graduate students to seek answers to life's most challenging questions. We are a community of individuals from many different backgrounds, and we recognize that a diverse student body and faculty enhance every aspect of our community. All races, genders, abilities, citizenships, and identities are welcome here.
The staff and fellows of the Office for Graduate Student Engagement and Development (OGSED) are invested in maintaining a caring and supportive community. We work collaboratively and proactively with every department and program to address students' needs, and we are eager to work with you to make your experience here personally and academically enriching. OGSED works collaboratively with the McDougal Graduate Student Center and Professional & Career Development offices.
Two Graduate School deans and several graduate student fellows are here for you. We are available to listen sympathetically to your concerns, give practical advice, and advocate for you as you transition through the various stages of your degree program. Prospective students can schedule a conversation with one of our fellows to discuss what graduate student life is really like here.
We encourage you to take full advantage of the programs that OGSED provides.
Yale has long thrived on diversity. Yale was not only the first university in North America to award PhD degrees (in 1861), but also the first in North America to award a PhD to a self-identified African American, Edward Alexander Bouchet, in the field of Physics in 1876. Women were admitted as candidates for the doctorate in 1892, the year when Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was formally established. In 1894, the first cohort of seven women earned the PhD at Yale.
Are you a current graduate student who wants to help create programming and provide support to your peers? If so, come join us! We invite you to apply as an Office for Graduate Student Engagement and Development (OGSED) Fellow.
GSAS First-Year Focus is an optional, year-long program for first-year graduate students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, sponsored by the Office for Graduate Student Engagement and Development (OGSED), to provide incoming students with the skills, connections, and community that will let them flourish at Yale.
Featured Resource
The McDougal Graduate Student Center offers support resources, events, and programming that build community and help you to connect with your fellow graduate students.
As a graduate student at Yale, you have many opportunities to get involved in the community, make and build relationships, learn leadership and professional skills, serve others, and have fun. Over 20 graduate student organizations are currently registered through the McDougal Graduate Student Center and all groups are open to all interested GSAS students.
Featured Resource
We promote an intentional approach to professional development, one that begins with the first year of your PhD and continues to evolve as you build knowledge and shape your scholarly and professional identity. Take advantage of the resources Yale has to offer: join a workshop series on leadership, communication, or project management; develop mentoring skills; or prepare for the job market through workshops on scholarly profile, job market materials, and interviewing skills. You can participate in professional development and career strategy workshops, and also schedule one-on-one consultations about your professional development and job search readiness.
Featured Resource
The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences works to ensure that students are supported in navigating academic and non-academic concerns that may occur throughout their experience at Yale. The Associate Director of Student Support and Community Standards can assist graduate students in identifying resources and support for any type of concern they may experience at Yale.
The Office of the Provost has partnered with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to create the Emerging Scholars Initiative.
As part of the Graduate School's efforts to recruit an exceptional pool of applicants, the Office for Graduate Student Engagement and Development (OGSED) hosts annual in-person and virtual Preview Days.
Named for Edward Alexander Bouchet, the first self-identified African American doctoral recipient in the United States, the Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society (Bouchet Society) recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement and promotes excellence in doctoral education and the professoriate.
The annual Yale Bouchet Conference on Graduate Education is a dynamic academic conference, drawing New Haven community residents, scholars, administrators, and graduate and undergraduate students from across the nation.
Are you a recent college graduate who is highly motivated to pursue a research career? See if one of our post-baccalaureate programs is right for you.
Are you a current undergraduate student considering pursuing a PhD? Each summer, the Yale Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program brings about 15 qualified undergraduates to Yale for eight weeks to explore what a PhD could offer them.
Michelle Nearon
Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Student Engagement and Development
Ksenia Sidorenko
Assistant Dean for Access and Engagement