Graduate School

Right now, these native “flowers” are blooming in Nashville—at least, until they melt, which is typically right after they form. Frost flowers are winter ephemerals. They happen when air temperature drops below freezing and warm groundwater rises to extrude itself through the conduit of a real flower stem, especially if that stem is a white crownbeard (Verbesina virginica). “Ice segregation” is the process at work. Water and vapor freeze on contact with air, and waves from within push older crystals forward and out. Read More

See highlights from the 2024 Graduate School Convocation, where Vanderbilt University Graduate School faculty and staff welcomed more than 590 students to campus. Read More

The Vanderbilt Graduate Student Council has announced the winners of the 2024 Graduate Leadership Anchor Awards, honoring the hard work and leadership of Vanderbilt graduate students schoolwide. This year’s awards recognize outstanding service, mentorship, departmental leadership, research and best overall. Read More

The award, funded by the Enhanced Funding and Support Model for Doctoral Education, recognizes doctoral students who exhibit exceptional academic excellence in areas such as publications, awards, patents and other forms of national/international distinction. Read More

The Women's Center presents awards in three categories each year: the Margaret Cuninggim Women's Center Leadership Award, the Mentoring Award and the Mary Jane Werthan Award. This spring, the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center named five people from the Vanderbilt community as recipients of its annual awards. Read More

The second annual Honors Banquet commemorated excellence in academics, leadership and innovation among Graduate School students and faculty. The banquet on March 18 honored and reflected on the remarkable achievements in research and creative expression from the more than 50 graduate programs and departments represented in the Graduate School. Read More

The diverse contributions of graduate students at Vanderbilt greatly enhance the academic and research excellence of our university, and we celebrate their remarkable achievements, especially during this special week of recognition. The weeklong festivities include a variety of events and activities to celebrate students. Read More

Graduate students are encouraged to apply for the Lacy-Fischer Interdisciplinary Research Grants by March 31. Grant funds are intended for creative advancement of collaborative research that makes an impact on the community and the world. Read More

This winter, third-year Ph.D. students completed a survey on student satisfaction. The data indicated students feel satisfied with their educational experience and are generally satisfied with all aspects of their graduate programs, and feel prepared to be successful in their academic journey as a graduate student.   Read More

The Vanderbilt International Researchers Alliance will host its second annual symposium on April 18 at the Community Event Space from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to highlight the research and stories of the university’s international community. This year, the event planned and executed by international trainees and staff is featuring the theme “Research and Stories.” Read More

Vanderbilt is increasing annual stipends for its nearly 1,900 doctoral students beginning with the new fiscal year. Stipends for Ph.D. students will increase to a range of $34,000 to $38,000.   Read More

Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School André Christie-Mizell is planning a redux this spring of his fall 2023 listening tour with faculty and graduate students to build upon the success that grew from those efforts toward fostering the Vanderbilt culture of collaboration and transparency. Read More

Dennis G. Hall, Vanderbilt’s first associate provost and later vice provost for research, dean emeritus of the Graduate School, professor emeritus of physics and professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science, died Jan. 6 in Nashville. Read More

The Graduate School will host a special exhibition of student research in February, with the winning presentations included in a time capsule commemorating Vanderbilt’s yearlong Sesquicentennial celebration. Ten graduate students will be selected to present their research in the form of five-minute lightning talks at the event. Submit your research by January 22. Read More

Aisha Francis, president and CEO of Boston’s Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology in 2021, is among the Boston Globe’s 50 Tech Power Players for 2023. With graduate degrees from Vanderbilt in English, she sought a path that was “both optimistic and realistic,” that could lead to nontraditional academic roles. Read More

The Graduate School hosted a Fall Career Colloquium, co-sponsored by the Career Center and International Student and Scholar Services. Faculty, alumni and industry experts came together to share tools and knowledge to help empower graduate students to excel in their future careers.  Read More

New research from the Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training connects the dots between career goals during graduate school and career outcomes, articulates how careers of Ph.D. alumni evolve during the 10 years after graduation. Read More

Welcome Week fun! See how the university, along with its numerous support centers, groups and organizations, rolled out the black-and-gold carpet to help new and returning students experience how valued they are to the Vanderbilt community. Read More

A new multicenter initiative led by the Graduate and Postdoc Academic Success program is helping graduate students and postdoctoral scholars develop a daily writing practice to benefit them in their academic careers at Vanderbilt and beyond. Read More

he awards identify and honor the hard work and leadership of graduate students at Vanderbilt, recognizing graduate student leaders on a school-wide level. Awards given this year included a service award, mentorship award, departmental leadership award, research award and best overall award. Read More