Graduate Research Symposium

The Office of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) in Arts, Sciences & Engineering (AS&E) and the Office of Alumni Relations and Constituent Engagement present the 3rd annual:

AS&E Graduate Research Symposium

Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Feldman Ballroom, Douglass Commons

3-4:30 p.m. Poster Session
4:30-5:30 p.m. Awards and Networking Reception

The research symposium will feature a poster session with monetary awards for selected posters followed by an awards ceremony and networking reception. The intent of the symposium is to showcase the incredible research by graduate students across the disciplines, including master’s and PhD candidates, in AS&E and celebrate their work.

All graduate students in AS&E were invited to submit an abstract to be considered for the poster session. View the symposium program and research abstracts for this year's presenters.

2024 Symposium Program

2024 Research Abstracts

Poster Session and Awards

We invite all students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University of Rochester community to attend the event and view the incredible work being presented by graduate students.

Posters presented at the symposium will be eligible for one of several $300 cash prizes. AS&E faculty and staff judges will select the best posters (and presentations) as part of the poster sessions. There will be individual prizes for the best poster(s) in the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering. Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony and networking portion of the event from 4:30-5:30 p.m. on March 27, 2024, in the Feldman Ballroom of Douglass Commons. Coffee, cookies, and appetizers will be served.

Questions about the event and abstract submission process can be directed to Katie Ferruzza, Assistant Director of Student Services at k.ferruzza@rochester.edu.

2024 Graduate Research Symposium Winners

Two students discuss research poster.

The 3rd annual AS&E Graduate Research Symposium on March 27, 2024 featured 50 graduate students presenting research posters from across disciplines. Over 200 attendees from the University community including students, staff, faculty, and alumni stopped by to view the research posters and celebrate the research being done by graduate students in the Hajim School of Engineering and the School of Arts & Sciences. Faculty and staff volunteers served as judges and the following students were awarded $300 cash prizes for "best poster" in their discipline.

Seven students and a professor in a group smiling at the camera while the students hold their certificates.
Photo of symposium winners from left to right: Samantha Steiner; Tyler Mason; Frank Cwitkowski; Nick Vamivakas, Dean of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs; Manasvi Patwa; Hafsa Irfan; Princeton Chee; Chloe Zhang.

Engineering and Mathematics (three-way tie!)
Frank Cwitkowski, Electrical Engineering PhD student, Toward Fully Self-Supervised Multi-Pitch Estimation

Tyler Mason, Chemical Engineering PhD student, Minimizing Outgassing from High-Power Vacuum Transmission Lines

Chloe Zhang, Biomedical Engineering PhD student, Towards quantifying cerebral blood flow of patients undergoing extracorporeal membrane oxygen (ECMO) with diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) and speckle contrast optical spectroscopy (SCOS

Natural Sciences
Hafsa Irfan, Chemistry PhD student, Study of structure-function relationship in cobalt-substituted cytochrome c for biocatalytic hydrogen evolution

Social Sciences
Princeton Chee, Social-Personality PhD student, Feeling Awe and Pride in Parenthood: The Unique Emotional Rewards of Parenting on Well-Being

Humanities
Samantha Steiner, English PhD student, Hands as Symbols of Black Motherhood in Daughters of the Dust

People's Choice
Manasvi Patwa, Data Science master's student, Quantitative Assessment and Prediction of Ocean Plastic Motivating Actions to Mitigation

Congratulations to all the students who presented at the symposium, and thank you to everyone that attended!

Nick Vamivakas, Dean of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral AffairsKris Lantzky-Eaton, Assistant Dean of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral AffairsKatie Ferruzza, Assistant Director of Student Services

View Past Winners