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Our Community

Four women in front of a multicolored background

Our programs are dedicated to training young scientists from diverse backgrounds for successful careers in the biomedical sciences.

The UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is firmly committed to the recruitment and retention of a diverse student and postdoctoral scholar population. We believe that advanced biomedical research and academic scholarship are enriched when informed by a diverse population composed of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with different perspectives, backgrounds, cultural experiences, thoughts, and ideas.

Graduate Student Demographics

Demographics showing 69% of the student in the Graduate School are from the United States, 31% are international, and 21% are underrepresented minorities
Demographics image showing 30% of U.S. graduate school student are underrepresented minorities, including 0.6% American Indian, 8.3% African American, 20.5% Hispanic, and 0.6% Pacific Islander
 

Student Profiles

Samantha Sakells

“Every time I run into a career or scientific roadblock, I know there are brilliant minds all around me that I can go to for different perspectives and ideas that help me move forward. It is this drive and energy that supports students to publish papers in high impact journals and keeps us on track to become excellent scientists.”

Samantha Sakells

Molecular Microbiology Graduate Program

Anthony Alexander Grichuk

“As someone with learning differences: Autism, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, ADHD, etc. and someone who had been out of a classroom setting for several years before entering graduate school, a sense of community and support was high on my list. The Cancer Biology program has this spades.”

Anthony Alexander Grichuk

Cancer Biology Graduate Program

Joshua Robinson

“I think the biophysics program at UT Southwestern has a rigorous and challenging curriculum while consistently providing exceptional support for graduate students.”

Joshua Robinson

Biological Chemistry Graduate Program

Student-led Organizations

Provost’s Initiative for Diverse Emerging Scholars (PROVIDES)

A white female researcher and a Black male researcher look at a slide

The PROVIDES Program is the Provost’s Initiative for Diverse Emerging Scholars. Our mission is to help and support the successful transition of postdoctoral fellows into independent faculty positions.

This program is for graduating Ph.D. students who plan to pursue an academic faculty position.

PROVIDES

Our commitment to fostering a community that acknowledges and celebrates all members has been and will always be a priority of the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences' strategic plan. We strive to work collaboratively to promote an inclusive environment that supports the advancement of our students, faculty, and staff and recognizes the value that each of our members brings to our organization. We are committed to building a welcoming community that supports all individuals regardless of race and ethnicity, national origin, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language, religion, age, appearance, marital status, disability, and veteran status.

All members of the Graduate School are responsible for ensuring that training programs are centered on respect, integrity, value mentorship, and encourage professional and personal growth. I firmly believe that each individual’s uniqueness contributes to making us a broader and stronger community. The sum of these differences aids in advancing scientific knowledge, which will ultimately translate into improvements in human health.

Through collaborations with stakeholders within UT Southwestern, including the Office of Student Empowerment and Engagement, the Office for Access & Title IX, the Student Wellness and Counseling Center, the Office of Women’s Careers, and the Office of Graduate Career Development, we have developed outstanding resources for our graduate students, with a wide array of academic and professional development and community events aimed at supporting, training, mentoring, and celebrating our graduate students, as well as postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and staff.

We encourage prospective applicants, current graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty to contact us to learn more about the different resources and ongoing initiatives from the Office for Institutional Opportunity, including our student-led organizations, such as Differently Abled Science Heroes in STEM (DASH in STEM), The Association of African American Scientists (TAAAS), the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and Out in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (oSTEM). Among the many additional resources on campus, I would like to highlight the Office of International Affairs, the Office of Student Academic Support Services (SASS), and the Women in Science and Medicine Advisory Committee (WISMAC).

Additionally, we invite you to explore the different research training opportunities available for high school and undergraduate students, as well as a recently launched post-baccalaureate research training program, the UT Southwestern Postbaccalaureate to PhD (PB2PHD) Program, and the Provost’s Initiative for Diverse Emerging Scholars (PROVIDES). The latter program aims to assist in helping and supporting our trainees transition into independent faculty positions.

Report Discrimination

Additional campus wide programs, events, initiatives and resources can be found through the UT Southwestern’s Office of Student Empowerment and Engagement.

Office of Student Empowerment and Engagement