Emily Ziperman stands in an old-fashioned hallway.

October 6, 2025

In this installment of Geeking Out With..., a series in which we talk to graduate students about their passions, Chemistry PhD student Emily Ziperman talks about her research in directed evolution and collaborating with others in the lab.
Brandeis logo

October 6, 2025

The Edmond J. Safra Foundation has committed to support the development of Sephardic Studies PhD fellowships at Brandeis University with a generous gift of $1.1 million.
Riagan McMahon

September 29, 2025

Sociology PhD student Riagan McMahon was drawn to Brandeis University for its strong sense of community and the chance to do a joint master's with Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Now in her second year here, McMahon discussed the ways she has felt embraced by her program, the opportunities she has had to take courses across the disciplines, and the ways Brandeis combines the resources of an R1 university with a liberal arts heart.
Two students work with science laboratory equipment.

Photo Credit: Dan Holmes

September 19, 2025

This academic year, 451 new graduate students joined the Brandeis community.  We reached out to our incoming class to ask them to share some of the work they plan to pursue. Across schools and fields, students are interested in communities and connections, in what makes people tick, and in tackling knotty social problems to help others and build a better world.
Jamie Brandon stands on rocks overlooking trees and a lake.

September 12, 2025

Jamie Brandon, MS' 19, came to Brandeis's Computational Linguistics program with a background in math. While there, she was mentored by the program's faculty and learned a wide range of skills that set her up for success in the field of Natural Language Processing.
Mason Miguel

September 11, 2025

Physics PhD student Mason Miguel was drawn to Brandeis because of its New England location, cutting-edge research, and small size. Now in his third year, Miguel praises the closeness of Brandeis's Physics community and the connections he has been able to build with other researchers.
Students in Commencement robes stand and applaud.

Photo Credit: Gaelen Morse

September 10, 2025

On August 31, 2025, 59 students received a master’s or PhD from Brandeis. Years of hard work paid off for these students as they completed their degrees and prepared to head out into the world beyond grad school. We talked to some of our August graduates about their favorite memories of Brandeis, their future plans, and what advice they have for other graduate students.

Camille Sullivan

September 2, 2025

In this installment of Geeking Out With..., a series in which we talk to graduate students about their passions, Molecular and Cell Biology PhD student Camille Sullivan talks about her work facilitating mentorship at Brandeis and why good mentors are so important.

A group of students sit around an outside table with ice cream.

Photo Credit: Becky Prigge

August 28, 2025

Brandeis welcomed new and returning graduate students with an ice cream social on the first day of classes.

Left: Mars and Pluto, two golden retriever puppies, lie in a blanket on newspaper. Right: An older Mars and Pluto sit outside wearing red jackets.

August 25, 2025

National Dog Day falls on August 26, 2025. To celebrate, we asked students to share "then and now" pictures and stories of their dogs.

Charles Golden

August 4, 2025

In this installment of Geeking Out With..., Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs Charles Golden and his team introduce themselves, what they do at Brandeis, and their passions beyond the office.

Headshot of Aparna Dutta

July 31, 2025

Aparna Dutta, MS'22, was drawn to Brandeis's Computational Linguistics program for its interdisciplinary nature. While there, she built skills and connections that are now serving her well in her industry career.

Will Dahl sits by a river.

July 24, 2025

Throughout his time at Brandeis, Will Dahl, PhD '25 in Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB), found a strong community that supported him as he persevered with his work. Through his experiences in the lab, program events, and the Three Minute Thesis competition, Will learned alongside people from a range of disciplines.

The Volen Building on the Brandeis campus

July 11, 2025

The Computational Linguistics master’s program at Brandeis University brings together computer science and linguistics and prepares students to work professionally in the fields of computational linguistics and natural language processing (NLP). GSAS connected with five program alums, who spoke about their experiences in the program and how it set them up for success.

Black and white headshot of Daniel Ruggles

July 1, 2025

In this installment of Geeking Out With..., a series in which we talk to GSAS students about their passions, Politics PhD student Daniel Ruggles talks about his research into the way young conservatives built bureaucratic institutions.

Jin Zhao stands at a podium.

June 2, 2025

In this installment of Geeking Out With..., a series in which we talk to GSAS students about their passions, Computer Science PhD student Jin Zhao talks about her research and how she uses Natural Language Processing tools to analyze the framing of news stories.

Dean Charles Golden shakes hands with a student; both wear regalia, and additional students in regalia are lined up to shake hands as well.

Photo Credit: Maddie Schroeder

May 13, 2025

On May 18, 2025, Brandeis University will hold its 74th Commencement. The afternoon Graduate Ceremony will honor students who earned a graduate degree in August 2024, February 2025, or May 2025, including 205 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) students.

Individual photos of the 2024-2025 Center for Teaching and Learning Award Winners. Top, left to right: Meli Jackson, Mia Nydam, Fangchao Ji, Tali Cohen. Bottom, left to right: Patrick Cao, Kyle Pandiscio, Jackie Floro, Xiaohang Wang.

May 12, 2025

In the fall of 2024, Brandeis University’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) launched the first Outstanding TA Awards for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring. Open to undergraduate and graduate TAs across all the disciplines at Brandeis, these awards honor the teaching assistants who make a difference in students’ learning experiences.
Brandeis GSAS logo

May 9, 2025

In the past year, GSAS students across programs have earned a wide range of external grants and fellowships. Thanks to these awards, they are able to pursue work that supports their research, from traveling to new sites to conducting additional experiments. GSAS spoke to five of these students about their research, the award application process, and their advice for others.
Clockwise from top left: Sarah Han stands in front of snowy mountains; headshot of Skyler Inman; headshot of Syed Taha Kaleem; Changhong Zhang stands in front of orange wall; Yura Yokoyama points to PowerPoint slide; Gowthaman Ranganthan stands on beach

May 9, 2025

This year, the PhD students of the Brandeis University Anthropology Department received a bumper crop of prestigious grants! With six students receiving Wenner-Gren or NSF grants, the program’s students had their hard work and innovative research recognized and received support with which to continue their fieldwork.
Headshot of Emiliano Gutierrez Popoca

May 8, 2025

While studying at Brandeis, Emiliano Gutierrez Popoca, PhD '23 in English, took advantage of many opportunities to connect across departments and was the winner of GSAS's inaugural Three Minute Thesis competition in 2022. He now puts the experiences and skills he gained to work in teaching and research as a Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow at Georgia Tech.
Mike Vivian sits with a laptop in front of a blackboard.

May 5, 2025

In this installment of Geeking Out With..., a series in which we talk to GSAS students about their passions, Neuroscience PhD student Mike Vivian talks about his passion for science and mentoring others in the field.
Ryan Collins, wearing a straw hat and sunglasses, in the field in Miami

April 22, 2025

Since graduating from Brandeis University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), Ryan Collins, MA ‘13 and PhD ‘18 in Anthropology, has worn many hats. He’s harnessed his skills as an archaeologist and his experience in digital media both in the private sector and, most recently, as a new Assistant Professor at Millsaps College. Collins joined GSAS to discuss his range of roles, the projects he’s worked on, and the importance of collaboration across fields.
Josh Perlmutter presents onstage in front of a slide.

Photo Credit: Gaelen Morse

April 16, 2025

On the afternoon of April 4, 2025, students, faculty, and staff gathered in the Spingold Theater at Brandeis University. They were there to watch and participate in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ (GSAS’) flagship event: the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, now in its fourth year. The competition, which has sent two GSAS students to Nationals, challenges graduate students to explain their research in just three minutes, using a single slide, in a way that people in any field can understand.
GSAS logo

April 16, 2025

The Brandeis University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) celebrated the university’s third annual Graduate Appreciation week from April 7 to 11, 2025. Along with other members of the Graduate Engagement group, they offered a range of activities to celebrate and support graduate students as a part of this national event.
Constantine Lignos

April 15, 2025

Constantine Lignos is an assistant professor of Computational Linguistics in the Computer Science Department at Brandeis University and this year’s winner of the Walzer Teaching Award. He teaches and works with a range of students, including those in the Computational Linguistics master’s program and the Computer Science PhD program. Lignos joined the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) to talk about his research into natural language processing and the exciting range of backgrounds that Brandeis students bring to their work.
Cat Rosch wears a colorful sweater.

April 2, 2025

In this installment of "Geeking Out With...," a series in which we talk to GSAS students about their passions, History PhD student Cat Rosch talks about her love of knitting and dyeing yarn and how they have found a knitting community.
Headshots of Bradford Garvey (left) and Amy Singer

April 1, 2025

Bradford Garvey of Music and Amy Singer of History are the co-recipients of the 2025 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Mentoring Award. Both received enthusiastic nominations from many students.
GSAS students and alums talk in small groups amongst restaurant tables and chairs.

March 24, 2025

Now in its fourth year, the Career Fellows program at Brandeis University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) continues to go strong. The program brings together students across graduate degree programs for the important work of career exploration.
Claudia Politanski

March 20, 2025

Claudia Politanski came to the master's program in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies as the start of a second career. She found faculty and courses that changed her personally and intellectually and that she will take with her into life after Brandeis when she graduates in May of 2025.
Liz Mahon stands next to an Appcast sign in front of a window.

March 17, 2025

Liz Mahon, PhD '25 in Psychology, won the Brandeis Three Minute Thesis competition in 2023, going on to compete at regionals and nationals. The experience, along with other skills gained during her time at Brandeis, helped her find and succeed in her post-graduate career.
Neerja Garikipati stands on a bridge.

March 7, 2025

In this installment of "Geeking Out With...," a series in which we talk to GSAS students about their passions, Biochemistry and Biophysics PhD student Neerja Garikipati talks about their research on enzymes and their love of finding out how and why things happen in nature.
Camille Sullivan and Anjali Pandey stand in front of a poster with the Brandeis University Mentoring Program logo.

March 7, 2025

Brandeis University Mentoring Program (BUMP) is a new student-created program designed to pair graduate students in the sciences with alum mentors who can guide them through the career exploration process. The program kicked off with a networking event on February 27.
Shirah Malka Cohen

March 7, 2025

In her dissertation, Shirah Malka Cohen, PhD ‘23 in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS), examined the use of classical music in early 20th century Japanese and Hebrew Literatures. She has now turned the dissertation into a book, Music in Modern Japanese and Hebrew Literatures: Weaving Sounds Into Words, which will be published as part of the Routledge Studies in Twentieth-Century Literature series in May. She spoke to GSAS about her experience of turning her dissertation into a book.
Portrait of Phillis Wheatley Peters

February 18, 2025

Jenny Factor is a seventh-year PhD student in English at Brandeis University. Her research interests include Pan-Atlantic eighteenth century media history, Black bibliography, poetry, and gaming. For Black History Month, she spoke to GSAS about her research into Black New England poet Phillis Wheatley Peters and her use of games in her poetry.
Wen Zhang stands in graduation robes by the Brandeis University sign.

February 10, 2025

Alums of the one-year Chinese Language and Culture master's program at Brandeis go on to teach Chinese content courses at universities and secondary schools. GSAS connected with seven program alums, who spoke about their experiences in the program and how it set them up for success.
Headshot of Chester Palen-Michel

February 4, 2025

Computer Science PhD student Chester Palen-Michel, MS'18 in Computational Linguistics, discusses how his experience at Brandeis has helped him grow as a researcher and find opportunities to apply his skills.
Jessi Brewer stands on a wooden walkway holding binoculars, next to some plants.

February 4, 2025

In this installment of "Geeking Out With...," a series in which we talk to GSAS students about their passions, English PhD student Jessi Brewer talks about her community-engaged research into prison abolition and its literary imagination.
Headshot of Jonathan Anjaria

January 31, 2025

Jonathan Anjaria, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Faculty Director of Professional Development in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, joined GSAS to talk about his ethnographic research into urban transportation, the value of the anthropological perspective, and why professional development is so important for graduate students.
A small group of students sits on chairs and couches at Brewer's Tap and Table, having conversations.

Photo Credit: Becky Prigge

January 29, 2025

On Friday, January 17, 2025, thirteen Brandeis University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) PhD students in the Humanities and Social Sciences attended the third annual PhD retreat. Aimed at building connections among first- and second-year students in different programs and giving them the skills to succeed in graduate school, the event was co-sponsored by GSAS and the Mandel Center for the Humanities.
Headshot of Amy Singer

January 23, 2025

Professor Amy Singer of the History Department spoke to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences about her research, why historical training is important, and the ways she brings graduate students in History together academically and socially.
Headshot of Maria-Eirini Pandelia

January 22, 2025

Professor Maria-Eirini Pandelia, of the Biochemistry department, joined GSAS to talk about her research into metalloproteins, the collaborations she and her students participate in with scientists inside and outside of Brandeis, and her love of seeing graduate students succeed.
Emily Calobrisi poses in a colorful ballroom dance costume.

January 3, 2025

In this installment of "Geeking Out With...," a series in which we talk to GSAS students about their passions, Psychology PhD student Emily Calobrisi talks about her experiences as a competitive ballroom dancer.