Graduate Studies

Student Perspectives

Aline Gomez

I came to Penn State without ever having been to State College. As a foreign student, you meet the professors in the program through e-mail and then by telephone and not personally as most American students do. I decided to come here because I had just finished a degree in different field (physics engineering) and the program gave me an opportunity to try different things out before settling into any given project. After three years I can still say that I love my project (bacteriochlorophyll c biosynthesis) and that I get excited whenever I obtain new data. One of the things I most appreciate about Penn State is that I can go to any professor or student in different labs and ask for help if I am stuck on any given problem. I have always felt welcome and I am not just talking about the BMB department, but the Chemistry department, the Geosciences department as well as people from the support facilities. I think that my overall experience here has been a very good one. P.S. There are tons of Intramural Sports (fun!).

Bharadwaj Jagannathan

I was a bit apprehensive of my ability to cope in the BMMB department, when I initially joined, since I had an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering. However, over the last year and a half, life has been plain sailing as far as progress of research is concerned. I am really impressed by the wide variety of courses on offer, the broad scope of research and the opportunities provided to display our mettle. The teaching part is great fun, especially if you have a lively class, as you need to be prepared to answer whatever questions the students throw at you. What really amazes me about the BMMB department is its flexibilty in every imaginable aspect- scheduling of exams, choosing labs, teaching assignments, working hours-you name it and we can be rest assured that our best interests will be given utmost priority. I have realized that the educational background is irrelevant-as long as we have the desire to succeed- the BMMB department is a great place to be in-it gives us all the resources we need-all we have to do is something we all love-to explore- the unknown.

Jenny Hayden

I decided to come to Penn State for graduate school largely based on the diversity of research conducted in the BMB department. It’s exciting to be amongst people of varying interests and I had a wide variety of choices when deciding which lab to join. I really enjoy the research that I do and the people that I work with. I’ve also been able to meet and work with people outside the department by using shared support facilities, such as the Electron Microscopy Facility and the Flow Cytometry Facilty.

State College is a great place to live. There’s a fun social scene, lots of great outdoor activities, such as hiking and mountain biking, and opportunities to join clubs or sports teams. But of course, when you need to get out of town, there are lots of places nearby for a fun weekend trip. I’ve learned a lot and enjoyed myself along the way at Penn State.

Samir R. Wadhawan

"When I came to Penn State in Fall 03, I was a bit anxious to be in an alienated place and amongst people of a completely different culture. I hardly knew anyone and this, for an international student,is quite challenging. One has to get accustomed to a completely new surrounding especially the language barrier. But what impressed me the most was that people here are very approachable and always ready to help.

It takes a while to get used to a new university and its regulations but everywhere I received a great deal of help from the staff members who are always smiling no matter how much you pester them with trivial questions.

Penn State has a well organized orientation system to help the incoming international students each year. They provided every information to get settled in Penn State which includes everything from paying tuition, getting insured to getting a drivers license and the social security number. They also have foreign student advisors to help with the INS and other U.S. laws and regulations for international students.

The University has a good balance of academics, sports and entertainment. Every weekend there are night recreational activities such as movies, games and live concerts by local bands, which I feel is very important and a well deserved change for students who work really hard during weekdays.

Talking about the BMB Department. I find that the faculty are more like colleagues than supervisors. They understand the ups and downs of a graduate life and are always there to motivate you and ensure your success. They are always there to help you but at the same time make sure that you grow independent as a researcher. The senior graudate students are extremely helpful in guiding the incoming graduate students in finding the right lab and taking the necessary courses. The Department get-togethers and socials are a nice way of knowing the faculty appart from their research interests.

Finally I feel that State College is one of the best towns to live in. It has the right population and is very safe. Happy Valley as it is known, is one of the most beautiful places I have seen so far. The University is at the heart of the valley which make it all the more beautiful. I really feel that I made a right choice of coming to Penn State."

Jay Russell

A concern I had when deciding which graduate school to attend was the environment outside of the department. Was there comaradery among other graduate students? How personable were the faculty and graduate students within the department? What did State College have to offer when I needed to get out of the lab? This is what I learned: BMMB graduate students stick together, because there is always someone who has experienced the same experimental problems as you. And besides, your problem gives the rest of us an excuse to get out of the lab and have a party. Everyone in the department is willing to lend a helping hand with a smile. As for State College, its like any other college town but much more scenic (there is plenty of hiking and backpacking) and some of the best fly fishing in the lower forty-eight.

Il Minn

The BMMB graduate program at Penn State has provided me with very beneficial experiences regarding my Ph.D. training. First of all, most faculty members have adapted their standings as mentors to educate students to become independent researchers after the training. The department and also the entire biological science community at the university have a variety of research fields, allowing me to have multiple choices for my own research interest, in addition to having opportunities to communicate with great scientists with different experiences and opinions. Finally, I love living in the town where I could raise my children in safe and clean environment. Happy Valley is a perfect place to have a vision for the future and to make it real.

Jianbin He

Pennsylvania State University is leading in the cutting edges of many research fields in Science, Engineering, Business, Education, and so on, and is undoubtedly an outstanding center of learning and research in the world. The BMMB Program at Penn State provides the graduate students with a wonderful environment for graduate education in modern biological sciences that is both broad in scope and rigorous in depth. The laboratories and many faculties of the biochemistry, molecular biology, and bioinformatics draw upon a rich resource of research talent and facilities. Penn State has a beautiful campus with the pleasant climate. Located in State College, a small city in the middle Pennsylvania, the green world in spring, cool air in summer, beautiful foliage in fall, big snow in winter, and numerous state parks nearby make Penn State more like a fairyland. And the addition of convenient and sufficient social and living facilities makes PSU a compelling place for studying and living. It’s also great that Penn State is nearby many famous and great places, such as Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, and Niagra Falls.

Christopher Graham

My experience as graduate student in the BMMB program can be summed up in two words: growth and challenge. The research is both cutting edge and highly relevant, requiring me to expand my knowledge and skill level to meet the challenges of the field. I haven’t been left alone in this process. A strong community of students, faculty, and staff has fostered my growth as a professional. Also, the atmosphere throughout the BMB and other departments within the Penn State system is very open and collaborative, and I have personally benefited from the technology and expertise available at Penn State. The faculty, especially, have been instrumental in my growth to meet these academic challenges. Faculty members have taken interest in me both professionally and personally, providing me with the tools, criticism, and encouragement I have needed to grow as a scientist, and they have been understanding of my needs outside of the lab. When I leave Penn State, I will have the tools I need to excel in my career.

Shiva Tyagarajan

I like the way BMMB program is structured to allow students to have most of the program requirements completed within the first three semesters, leaving one with ample time for his or her thesis project(s). The core concepts course not only taught me the fundamentals, but also acted as a good introduction to the existing research diversity within the department. It can never be overemphasized that one aspect of graduate training is familiarizing oneself to the expected ethical standards, and BMMB is one of the few graduate programs that offers a course on ethics. Faculty members are very helpful and are usually easily accessible, and the friendly atmosphere in the department has made my graduate experience enjoyable.

Zhengjian Zhang

I joined the BMMB graduate program in August 1999 and got my Ph.D. in May 2004. Now I am a postdoc in Dr. Robert Tjian’s lab at U. C. Berkeley, trying to prepare myself for an independent scientific career. A successful future is still depending on my continuous efforts, but I am very satisfied with what I have obtained so far and I appreciate the training and opportunities that Penn State has provided me.

Unlike some places where the research is predominantly driven by postdocs, at Penn State, the faculty pay a lot of attention to the graduate students. I can discuss with my advisor almost everyday about my work. He shared his experience in research presentation when I was preparing slides for the Graduate Student Research Seminars. He even gave the spotlight to me when our work was chosen for an oral presentation at the biannual transcription meeting at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory – what a great honor to stand on the same platform used by the most recognized scientists! It was also a great opportunity since I started to look for postdoc positions at that moment. During that meeting, I got invitations for interviews from all of the top labs.

After a brief interviewing period, I got postdoc offers from prominent labs at Harvard, Rockefeller, and UC Berkeley. Then it became a very hard decision to choose a place to do my postdoc. After consulting my thesis advisor and other professors, I asked myself hundreds of questions and ended up in Berkeley.

No matter where I am, I always miss the “good old times” at Penn State -- the conversations with the professors and lab people, and the bench and notebooks where I had put my heart into. It is the place where I had experienced the most valuable and fruitful five years in my life.