Rodrigo Araiza Bravo, PhD ’24, studies quantum computing, but with a twist: He is determined to temper “pure research” with an understanding of its potential ethical, moral, and societal effects of science.

Exciting news! Harvard Griffin GSAS’s alumni magazine, Colloquy, is officially an online-only publication! Explore the winter/spring 2026 issue today: gsas.harvard.edu/colloquy

Two 2025 Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD graduates and a current PhD student have been named to the 2026 cohort of Schmidt Science Fellows, joining a select group of 32 emerging research leaders worldwide chosen to accelerate discovery. gsas.harvard.edu/news/three-h...

Harvard Griffin GSAS provides resources and guidance to help students understand their funding, plan budgets, manage debt, and build confidence in their financial decision-making.

MIT economist David Autor, PhD ’99, discusses the "China Shock" and its devastating impact on US manufacturing jobs, labor markets, and local communities. gsas.harvard.edu/news/david-a...

Since joining Harvard Griffin GSAS in 2013, Janet Daniels has helped create spaces for graduate students to connect beyond their academic work, and she hopes to expand those opportunities and ensure the Center is a place where every student feels they belong.

PhD student Abigail Frey won the 2026 Three-Minute Thesis competition for her groundbreaking research on drug-resistant tuberculosis. Her work’s great reward, however, is identifying TB mutations, paving the way for personalized treatment and improved global health.

In this episode of the Colloquy podcast, historian, author, and former presidential adviser Ted Widmer discusses the use of state power in American cities then—and now.

MIT Professor Andrew Lo, PhD ’84, shares his thoughts on how AI is revolutionizing almost every industry, including financial services. youtu.be/1cvhtSAYq68?...

Recent alumnus S. Furkan Ozturk, PhD ’24, talks about a life-changing summer camp experience, going to college during a coup attempt and ISIS bombings, and searching for the origins of life through the physics of molecular symmetry-breaking.

New research from economists Jamie Gracie, PhD ’25, and Ben Goldman, PhD ’24, shows that investments in non-academic “navigators” can yield big returns for economically disadvantaged kids.

As AI becomes ever more interwoven in daily life, new research from Nina Beguš, PhD ’20, and Gašper Beguš, PhD '18, is beginning to map out machine learning’ "latent space," the hidden mathematical area that processes information and eventually produces an output.

Duygu Payzin Dogru, PhD '22, and her colleagues reveal the axolotl’s 'whole-body' secret to limb regrowth, offering a new blueprint for the future of human regenerative medicine. Learn more:

Despite conducting groundbreaking social science research, W.E.B. Du Bois chose to leave the academy and become an activist, co-founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. What inspired him to make the change?

Are the elements that made Boston the cauldron of the American Revolution in the 1770s playing out again in the United States today? Ted Widmer, PhD ’93, discusses the parallels—and perils—of looking to the past to understand the present. Learn more:

Raphael Kay is turning to nature to tackle one of the world’s most urgent sustainability challenges: the colossal amount of energy required to light, heat, and cool modern buildings.

Fostering meaningful social connections and cultivating healthy relationships can enhance graduate student well-being during the demands and transitions of academic life.

Senior Program Coordinator Rachael Walker and Hogle Coordinating Fellow Paul Secchia, a 5th year PhD student, talk about what the Student Center Fellows Program is, what students gain from becoming a fellow, & how to learn more and apply before the March 9 deadline.

With support from the President's Building Bridges Fund, two PhD students in the life sciences have embarked on a project to map the range of opinion on genes and genetics among experts at Harvard.

Is it possible to find love when you’re married to your research? For these Harvard Griffin GSAS alumni, the two went hand in hand. Three couples tell their stories of first dates, courtship, and commitment.

How did the Harvard PhD experience influence W.E.B. Du Bois, the man who would become one of the leading Black activists and intellectuals of the 20th century? Join us as we explore these questions in the first of a two-part convo on the Colloquy podcast.

Black members of Congress, like other groups, are often typecast. PhD student Hunter Rendleman explores how much their identities and behaviors reflect their own identities and how much they're shaped by the way people think the legislators should behave.

Maria Perez-Matos’s research suggests that aging isn’t determined solely by genes or environment. Subtle molecular differences can influence how long and how well an organism lives.

Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD student Icey Lin explores Moon and Melon, a seventeenth-century painting by the Chinese artist Bada Shanren held at the Harvard Art Museums.

Harvard PhD student Swathi Srinivasan's advocacy for Narcan access and health equity to fight the opioid crisis was intensified by her own battle with cancer.

Immunologists have long studied how our body fights pathogens, but the precise patterns of molecules required to trigger an immune response weren’t fully understood. PhD student Anh Cao took the research a step deeper.

Hanne Collins discusses her journey from psychology to behavioral science, how her mentors at Harvard powered her through graduate school, and a fond memory of her dissertation defense.

Amherst College political scientist Javier Corrales, PhD ’96, is skeptical both of the Trump administration’s stated goals for the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and its ability to bring about a positive transformation in Venezuela’s governance.

Stephen Ansolabehere, PhD '89, an expert in public opinion and elections and a consultant for the CBS News Election Decision Desk, recently joined Dean Emma Dench of the Harvard Griffin GSAS to address questions about elections, energy, and the public mood.

Computer science PhD student James Arnold wants to improve rehabilitation and day-to-day independence for stroke survivors, people living with ALS, and others with limited shoulder mobility. youtu.be/e89zjETo0VA?...

PhD student Samora Pinderhughes works with music and art to create healing rooms, showcase the work of individuals healing from structural violence, and establish spaces where people can come to grips with it.

Wishing our wonderful community a happy and healthy new year ahead! ⛄️

Dr. Aisha Usmani of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School discusses how cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based approaches can provide a powerful framework for creating resolutions that last throughout the year.

Now in her third year as a fellow at the Student Center at Harvard Griffin GSAS, Maya Jackson strives to care for student parents by creating programming to which they can look forward every year.

Even as Atte Kadoma and Isaias Ghezae are immersed in demanding PhD programs at Harvard, being resident advisor brings balance to their lives and enriches both their student experience and their scholarly pursuits.

Research from GSAS alumni Chanthia Ma & Guanlan Dong sequences the entire genome of individual cells to shed light not only on how brain trauma leads to long-term decline but also on possible shared mechanisms across different neurodegenerative conditions.

Aurélien Dersy is a sixth-year PhD student in physics at Harvard Griffin GSAS whose work straddles high-energy theoretical physics and artificial intelligence.

Jennifer Cruz, PhD ’25, lost her mother to breast and brain cancer when she was 13. Today, she devotes herself to overcoming structural barriers to breast cancer screening in rural communities like Wapato, Washington, where she grew up.

Landing on the moon required the collective effort of hundreds of thousands of people. Understanding how humans achieve these kinds of extraordinary feats is at the core of psychology PhD student Yang Xiang’s research on how our minds navigate collaboration.

As the term and the year draw to a close, take a moment to pause, recharge, and enjoy the season with camaraderie and Harvard Griffin GSAS programming featuring music, snacks, crafting, dancing, and more.

The path from medium-security prison—as well as opioid addiction and family trauma—to a PhD program at the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is narrow and has few travelers. Somehow, Johnny Smith found his way to it and through it.

With the temps dropping and daylight hours dwindling, it can be easy to feel your motivation do the same. Fortunately, Harvard and the surrounding Cambridge area offer plenty of opportunities to keep moving and reset as the light begins to fade earlier each day. gsas.harvard.edu/news/be-well...

Clinical psychologist and Harvard Griffin GSAS alumnus Ben Bellet’s debut poetry collection, Cadet, is part memoir of his time at West Point, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, where he was a US Army officer, and part meditation on masculinity. gsas.harvard.edu/news/militar...

In preparation for the Ken Burns documentary event on PBS, we're getting a primer on the founding of the US from Phil Mead, PhD '12, former chief historian and curator of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

A ground breaking gene-insertion technology developed by the musically-inclined Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD student Isaac Witte and colleagues may bring us closer to treating diseases like cystic fibrosis at their genetic root.

What the Healthy Minds Survey reveals about student well-being.

Harvard Griffin GSAS alumnus Philippe Aghion was honored with a share of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics for developing a mathematical model that explains how “creative destruction” drives economic growth.

By studying works of “quotidian horror,” PhD student Andrea Garza explores the ways that stories can enable us to look squarely at violence and take action instead of turning away or falling prey to paralysis.

Leadership transitions are inevitable; peaceful transitions are not. How can societies ensure that power changes hands without violence? In his dissertation, PhD student Daniel Lowery examines how monarchs in Europe and Asia transferred power across the centuries.

Even as it hopes to beat rival teams at this year’s Head of the Charles Regatta, the larger goal of the Rowing Club at Harvard Griffin GSAS is to make rowing more inclusive and accessible, and to strengthen the University’s graduate student community.