building community
Grad Phi is a student organization focused on developing, supporting, and improving the graduate student community. We host coffee hours, game nights, movie nights, bike rides, and more! If you have an idea, there is a suggestion form at the bottom of this page or send us an email at ~ spa-gradphi@umn.edu
Meet your representatives below:
Grad Phi Officers
Grad Phi Officers organize and run social/outreach events throughout the year. Typically this is broken down into one primary event and one secondary event per officer per semester, which in the past have been one-offs like the Halloween parties, or monthly events such as Game Night. Grad Phi Officers also typically assist with and attend events they do not plan, and tend to act as points of contact in the grad student body for initiating new programs.
There are 6 positions available, including the Coordinator.
Typical time commitment is ~1.5 hrs/week, rising to ~4 hrs/week for planning and running events.
Grad Phi Coordinator
The Grad Phi Coordinator is a Grad Phi Officer responsible for organizing the Grad Phi Officers’ programs with the department, and acts as a liaison between faculty and students as possible. They are the main point of contact for the group, and are more heavily involved in the running of regular events and recruitment.
The Coordinator is not a directly elected position, rather the Coordinator is appointed by the other 5 officers.
Typical time commitment is ~10 hrs/week, consisting of organization and set up of events, meeting with faculty and staff, speaking with prospective students (Open House), and volunteer recruitment.
Noah Jabusch
He/Him/His
Grad Phi Coordinator
Howdy! I'm a fourth year grad student studying various topics around superconductors. In undergrad I studied math, physics, and Spanish at North Carolina State University. My undergrad research involved DFT calculations to find phonon modes in cuprate superconductors. I love strategy/4x and rpg games, as well as hiking when the weather's nice.
Nolan Maher
He/Him/His
Grad Phi Officer
I am a second year graduate student studying experimental cosmology and have a background in low background high energy physics. I grew up in North Dakota and did my undergraduate degree at Black Hills State University. Outside of being on campus, I enjoy running, hunting, fishing, or enjoying a few ice cold beers.
Kate Hildebrandt
She/Her/Hers
Grad Phi Officer
I am a second year graduate student studying neutrinos with Andy Furmanski. I did my undergrad right here at UMN Twin Cities, majoring in physics and astrophysics. Aside from physics, I like to spend my free time teaching high school drumline, cooking, playing pokemon, and hanging out with my two cats.
Lexi Leali
They/Them/Theirs
Grad Phi Officer
I'm a third year graduate student studying gravitational waves with Vuk Mandic. I did my undergrad at the University of Iowa where I majored in Physics, Astronomy, and Applied Mathematics. I enjoy reading, learning languages, and playing piano, french horn, and cello. I have two bunnies and a growing cat, if you ever need to feel some fluff!
Chelsea Rodriguez
She/Her/Hers
Grad Phi Officer
Alyssa Bragg
She/Her/Hers
Grad Phi Officer
I'm a third year student in condensed matter experiment working with Alex McLeod. I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and went to Illinois Institute of Technology for undergrad. In my free time, I enjoy downhill skiing, running and reading. I have one cat named Luna and I'm planning to adopt another cat soon!
Colloquium Committee Representatives
Colloquium Committee Representatives have two responsibilities. The primary one is to organize and host the Pizza Lunches with the Colloquium speakers every week. This includes advertising each Lunch to all SPA graduate students, communicating weekly with Jenny Allan (and occasionally Shelley Frankel) as to how many students will be present for that particular Lunch. Jenny orders the pizza and Shelley organizes the speaker schedules. This role also includes setting up and cleaning up the room before and after the Lunches, respectively.
The secondary responsibility of the Representatives is to provide input to the School’s Physics and Astronomy Colloquium Committee composed of a few faculty members from each major group. The Representatives are also free to provide input on any of the other speakers chosen by the rest of the Colloquium Committee. Additionally, graduate students select one Colloquium speaker of our choice each academic year, although the selected speaker may or may not be available to accept our invitation. This choice is communicated to the rest of the Colloquium Committee by the Representatives.
There are 2 positions available for this committee.
Typical time commitment is ~4 hrs/week, consisting of meetings and running lunches with speakers.
Gautam Hedge
Colloquium Committee Representative
Graduate Education Committee Representatives
Graduate Education Committee Representatives attend faculty meetings and present their opinions on issues related to the education requirements and programs available to our graduate program to help improve/streamline the student experience in our department.
There are 2 positions for this committee.
Typical time commitment is ~2 hrs/week, consisting of meetings and email correspondence.
Nick Kruegler
Graduate Education Committee Representative
Colin Weber
Graduate Education Committee Representative
Graduate Career Education Committee Representatives
Graduate Career Education Committee Representatives attend meetings with other members of the Career Education Committee, and present their opinions on issues related to enhancing students professional development, career path exposure, and job hunting. Career exposure and job hunting encompass all possible paths including industry, government, and academia. Subsequent duties may be decided by the committee chair.
There are 2 positions for this committee.
Typical time commitment is expected ~1 hr/week, consisting of meetings (every 3 weeks), email correspondence, and occasional help with event organization.
Isaac Throndson
Graduate Career Education Committee Representative
COGS Representative
The COGS Representative represents physics graduate students in four General Assemblies of the Council of Graduate Students (COGS) every semester. This role offers the opportunity to take part in the decision-making process of COGS policies and activities. Representatives have the option of joining the COGS leadership team as well. The representative also acts as a liaison between COGS and Grad Phi, to help coordinate joint events and avoid potential event conflicts.
There is one position available.
Typical time commitment is ~16 hrs/semester, consisting of meetings, email correspondence, and attending special events.
Isaac Throndson
COGS Representative