New Students 2025 Agenda

BGS New Student Orientation - Biomedical Research Building Lobby and Auditorium

Monday, August 11, 2025 - Welcome!

8:00 am – 9:00 am

Arrive and Check In - Light Breakfast

9:00 am – 10:00 am

Welcome Remarks from the Deans and School Representatives

Recording

Dan Kessler, PhD - Slides
Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Education, PSOM
Interim Director, BGS

Dave Meaney, PhD 
Vice Provost for Research, University of Pennsylvania
Senior Associate Dean, SEAS

Chris Lengner, PhD - Slides
Chair of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine

Kristy Shuda-McGuire, PhD - Slides
Dean of Biomedical Studies, The Wistar Institute

Donita Brady, PhD 
Assistant Dean and Research Trainee Affairs Director, University of Pennsylvania

Kelly Jordan-Sciutto, PhD 
Vice Provost for Graduate Education, University of Pennsylvania

10:00 am – 10:30 am

Making the Most of Graduate School

Kyndall Nicholas - Recording/Slides
NGG Student

10:40 am – 11:00 am

Welcome from the PSOM Dean

Jon Epstein, MD - Recording
EVP, University for the Health System
Dean, PSOM

11:00 am – 11:40 am

Introduction to Grad School and Professionalism

Dan Kessler, PhD - Recording/Slides
Interim Associate Dean for Graduate Education, PSOM
Interim Director, BGS

11:40 am – 1:00 pm

Lunch

Tuesday, August 12, 2025 - Connections in the Lab and Beyond

9:00 am – 10:00 am

Mentorship Overview – Dan Kessler

Recording/Slides

10:00 am – 11:00 am

Student-Led Mentorship Case Studies

(Small groups will be set up in lobby, BRB 251, 252, and 253)

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Graduate Student Organizations Panel

Recording

  • Biomedical Graduate Student Association (BGSA) - Slides
  • EE Just Biomedical Society (EE Just) 
  • LTBGS+ - Slides
  • Penn Biotech Group (PBG) - Slides
  • Penn Graduate Consulting Club (PGCC) - Slides
  • Penn Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (PGWISE) - Slides
  • Penn Science Policy and Diplomacy Group (PSPDG) - Slides
  • Pharm4GOOD - Slides
  • SACNAS - Slides
  • Trainee Advancement Alliance (TAA) - Slides
  • Venture Lab - Slides
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Lunch

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

BIOM 6000 Prep Workshop - Smilow 10-146AB

(Optional)

Wednesday, August 13, 2025 - BGS and University Resources

9:00 am – 9:45 am

Graduate School Logistics (Welcome from the Staff)

Recording/Slides

Judy Jackson
BGS Administrative Director

Kyle Brown
BGS Registrar

Carol Reich
Payroll Manager

10:00 am – 11:00 am

University Resources Panel Session

Recording

  • Graduate Student Center - Slides
  • Penn Libraries/Holman Commons
  • Public Safety 
  • Recreation and Athletics - Slides
  • Wellness General - Slides
  • Weingarten Learning Resource Center - Slides
11:00 am – 11:30 am

Religious and Ethnic Interests/Title VI

Sarah Estey and Majid Alsayegh - Recording/Slides
Office of Religious and Ethnic Interests (Title VI)

 

11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Lunch

Thursday, August 14, 2025 - Building Inclusive Culture

9:00 am – 9:30 am

Introduction to Research Trainee Affairs and the Trainee Advancement Alliance (TAA)

Recording

Donita Brady, PhD 
Assistant Dean and Research Trainee Affairs Director

Kellie Jurado, PhD
Presidential Assistant Professor of Microbiology

9:30 am – 10:30 am

Restorative Conflict & Communication Skills

Imani Hester - Recording/Slides
Restorative Practices@Penn

10:45 am – 11:00 am

Building Cultures of Excellence in Research Spaces

Donita Brady, PhD - Recording
Assistant Dean and Research Trainee Affairs Director

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Student-Led Inclusive Culture Case Studies

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Lunch

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Student Organizations Ice Cream Social

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

BIOM 6000 Prep Workshop - Smilow 10-146AB

(Optional)

Friday, August 15, 2025

Graduate Group Specific Activities

Monday, August 18, 2025

Graduate Group Specific Activities

Graduate Group Specific Activities 

Fontaine Society Orientation

Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - Lab Notebooks and Documentation

9:00 am – 9:30 am

Introduction to Lab Notebooks

Ben Voight - Recording
Chair, Genomics and Computational Biology Graduate Group

9:30 am – 10:15 am

Student Perspectives on Lab Notebooks

Recording

Data and File Organization - Chelsea Thorsheim
What’s an e-Notebook? - Victoria Subritzky Katz
Work in Computational Areas - Jimmy Kelliher

10:30 am – 11:30 am

Hands-On Training: Lab Archives, Benchling

Lab Notebook Exercises (Participants should bring laptop)

11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Lunch

Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - Doing Science Well

9:00 am – 9:30 am

PSOM Core Facilities & Computing Resources

Recording

Yale Cohen, PhD 
Assistant Dean of Research Facilities and Resources, PSOM
Li-San Wang, PhD - Slides
Associate Dean for Computing, PSOM

9:30 am – 10:20 am

Responsible Conduct of Research/Community for Rigor

Steve DiNardo, PhD - Recording/Slides
Director, Training Support & Career Development, BGS
Carolina García & Zac Parker - Recording/Slides
Community for Rigor

10:20 am – 11:00 am

Ready, Set, Experiment!

Kurt Engleka, PhD - Recording/Slides
Curriculum Director, BGS

11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Student-Led Experimentation Case Studies

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Lunch

Thursday, August 21, 2025 - Career Development

9:00 am – 10:00 am

Certificate Programs Introduction and Overview

Recording

Graduate Training in Medical Science (GTMS) - Slides

Public Health (PHCP) - Slides

Community Engagement (CECP) - Slides

Environmental Health Sciences (EHS) - Slides

10:00 am – 10:45 am

Intro to Careers

Steve DiNardo, PhD - Recording/Slides
Director, Training Support & Career Development, BGS

11:00 am – 11:30 am

Holman Biotech Commons Open House

11:45 am – 1:00 pm

Lunch

Friday, August 22, 2025

Graduate Group Specific Activities

3:00 pm - 4:30 pm

New International Graduate and Professional Student Welcome Event

Perry World House

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-international-graduate-and-professional-student-welcome-event-2025-tickets-1359005876159?aff=oddtdtcreator

Monday, August 25, 2025

Graduate Group Specific Activities

Thursday, August 28, 2025

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

BGSA Welcome Student Mixer

Rittenhouse
RSVP: http://bit.ly/4lmYgh4