Recruitment Guidelines for Students and Faculty

Thank You for Participating!

On behalf of the recruitment committee and Biophysics leadership, we deeply appreciate your participation in the graduate group's biggest event of the year.

You can RSVP to recruitment here.

Schedule of Events Student Responsibilities Faculty Interviewer Responsibilities Interview Schedule

This page contains a lot of information. Please read fully and carefully to ensure you are prepared for recruitment!

Changes from Prior Years

The biggest change is that we are having what Alyssa calls a "Tetrad-style recruitment" in collaboration with the BMCDB, IGG, and MCIP Graduate Groups. The overall program of events will be pretty much exactly the same, but at the Conference Center instead of the Alumni Center. This is not only to save space and funding, but to decrease the amount of time faculty are asked to commit to interviewing prospective students.

Schedule of Events

Sunday, March 1st

Recruits who live out of the area are staying at the Hyatt Place adjacent to the Conference Center. Most of the recruits already live in the Davis area and will be commuting to recruitment.

6:00pm: Informal welcome social at Woodstock's Pizza

Monday, March 2nd

7:45am: A small team of students will walk the recruits to the Conference Center
8:00 - 9:15am: Breakfast and welcome remarks from Dean Winey at the Conference Center
9:15 - 10:00am: BPH orientation presentation in Conference Room A
10:00 - 11:45am: Research presentations by faculty and students in Conference Room A
11:45am - 1:00pm: Lunch (faculty and recruits only) and resource fair at the Conference Center
1:15pm: Student slide deck and Q&A in Conference Room A
2:45, 3:45 and 4:45pm: Faculty interviews (30 minutes each, 30 minutes between interviews) at each faculty member's office
5:45pm: Student drivers will pick up recruits in University vans at the Conference Center and drive to Great Bear Winery
6:00 - 7:30pm: Dinner with MCIP at Great Bear Winery
7:30pm: Optional social at Dunloe Brewing; student hosts whose recruits want to return to the hotel are expected to walk them back

Tuesday, March 3rd

9:00 - 10:30am: Optional campus walking tour
10:30am: Recruits depart! 

Student Responsibilities


During Recruitment

  • Please remember that you are representatives of the University and the graduate group. Report any unacceptable behavior to Alyssa, Vladimir, and Stefano in writing.
  • Your primary responsibility is to walk your recruit to and from their interviews. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the buildings your recruit is interviewing in, but in case that isn't feasible, here is a link to a Box folder with detailed floor maps for every building where an interview will be taking place.
  • Some recruits are nonbinary or gender-nonconforming, or may simply prefer a gender-inclusive bathroom. Here is a list and map of gender-inclusive bathrooms.
  • If a faculty member is late to interview, misses the interview completely, or is impolite, we ask that you apologize on their behalf and explain that it will not impact their chances of admission.
    • If you are near your lab or the lab of someone you know, feel free to give them a tour, or you can simply find a quiet place to sit and chat. Talk about your experience, answer any questions they have, or if you’re near your home lab, offer them a tour. Please let Alyssa know who missed the interview and what happened.
    • Some quiet (or quiet-ish) places that you can go to:
      • 1022 Green
      • Tupper lobby
      • GBSF lobby (or patio if the weather is nice)

After Recruitment

  • As soon as possible following recruitment, please complete the recruit(ment) evaluation survey. Your candid feedback is deeply appreciated; please report any "red flags" or recruit misbehavior accordingly, especially since recruits are less likely to mask inappropriate behavior when faculty are absent.

Interview Schedule

Name of InterviewerInterview Location2:45-3:15pm3:45-4:15pm4:45-5:15pm
Shirley AhnBainer 3108  Elijah Urbaitel
Jawdat Al-BassamGreen 3320Fiona TillyerJason Apuan 
Jim AmesChemistry 126  Helen Fenske
Enoch BaldwinBriggs 4 Helen FenskeJason Apuan
Jennifer CashBriggs 102C Fiona Tillyer 
Holland ChengEsau 3016Jason ApuanRayahan BawahabFiona Tillyer
Ele GrandiTupper 2427Anna Susanto  
GW Gant Luxton & Dan StarrBriggs 139IHelen Fenske Max Kelly
Rick McKenneyGreen 3225 Max Kelly 
Stefano MorottiTupper 2225BMax KellyAnna Susanto 
Justin SiegelGBSF 5212Elijah UrbaitelIsabella AlfonsoGeorge Goldenfeld
Sanjeevi SivasankarGBSF 2519  Anna Susanto
Cheemeng TanGBSF 2321  Isabella Alfonso
Igor VorobyovTupper 4133George GoldenfeldElijah UrbaitelRayahan Bawahab
John VossTupper 4110Isabella Alfonso  
Vladimir Yarov-YarovoyTupper 4131Rayahan BawahabGeorge Goldenfeld