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UMBC Department of Physics
Graduate Programs
Physics Graduate Student Association

The Physics Graduate Student Association (PGSA) was established for the purpose of facilitating and improving the communication and camaraderie between all the graduate students within the department. It also provides the department’s graduate students a “voice” to the department’s faculty, to the college and at the campus-wide level.

All students registered for a graduate degree within the department are automatically members of the PGSA. The PGSA is run by officers elected annually in May. These consist of a president, secretary and treasurer. Two senators are also elected each May to represent the PGSA and department at UMBC’s campus-wide GSA meetings. The PGSA president also meets with the chair of the Physics department on a regular basis, and with the Dean of the College of Natural & Mathematical Science at least once a semester.

The current PGSA officers are:

President

Barry Baker

barrybaker@umbc.edu

Secretary

Sanjit Karmakar

sanjitk1@umbc.edu

Treasurer

Jason Simon

jsimon1@umbc.edu

Applied Physics Senators

Vincenzo Tamma
Amanda Dotson

tammav1@umbc.edu
amanda_dotson@umbc.edu

Atmospheric Physics Senators

Chris Wilson
Debra Wicks Kollonige

wilsonr1@umbc.edu
dwicks1@umbc.edu

 

The PGSA meetings are held approximately once a month during the semester [Schedule of Meetings]. At these meetings any issues and concerns are discussed. In addition, regular “Meet & Greets” are held so that members of the departmental faculty may give an overview of their research and opportunities for potential thesis projects. The latter, along with an annual poster session arranged by the PGSA, are especially valuable for new graduate students.

The PGSA also organizes a number of social events throughout the year, at which students can ‘let their hair down’ (bowling trips, poker nights, Cinco de Mayo celebrations, etc.).

Useful Links

Previous students have found the following links helpful. They are listed as a courtesy only—the PGSA and UMBC do not endorse any non-UMBC sites.

Graduate Programs in Physics
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