We’re the Graduate Division

Home to more than 30 graduate groups spanning the humanities and social and natural sciences, the Graduate Division at Penn Arts & Sciences is here to support your research.

Create New Knowledge

Home to expert faculty, archives, and state-of-the art equipment, Penn Arts & Sciences will help you grow into a leader in your field.

Apply for Penn Grad Talks

For a chance to get presentation practice, valuable feedback, a video of your presentation, and a shot at a $500 cash prize.

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News & Announcements

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2021 Penn Grad Talks

For the past four years, the Penn community has gathered in late February for an afternoon of TED Talk-style presentations by Penn Arts & Sciences graduate students representing the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Professional Master’s programs.

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Extended funding for SAS Doctoral Students

We hope you are navigating the last weeks of this semester and looking forward to a much-needed break.

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Big Ideas for Strange Times

A series featuring short lectures on life’s bigger questions from Penn Arts & Sciences experts, including Ph.D. Candidates Aylin Malcolm (English), Sara Ray (History and Sociology of Science), and Angelina Eimannsberger (Comparative Literature and Literary Theory).

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Extended funding for SAS Doctoral Students

As you know, SAS has made the difficult decision to pause school-funded PhD admissions for the 2021-22 academic year. Some graduate groups regularly support students with external grants and so may be able to admit graduate students, albeit in smaller numbers.

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Resources and Emergency Funding for Graduate Students

Several new initiatives have been implemented to address broader issues affecting graduate and professional students and to provide you with support both immediately and in the longer term.

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Fall Semester Guidance for Penn Arts & Sciences Graduate Students

The SAS Graduate Division realizes that the fall 2020 semester presents a number of complex challenges and questions for graduate students, whether they will be taking classes remotely or serving as teaching assistants.

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Graduate Groups

Learn about our 33 graduate groups in the humanities and social and natural sciences.

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Grad Students in the News

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Sensuality in Latin American literature and film

Ph.D. candidate Dana Khromov researches sensuality as a means of perceiving—and perhaps restoring—the world.

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‘What makes us human’: Amy Lutz on autism and community

History and Sociology of Science Ph.D. candidate Amy Lutz publishes her second book, "We Walk: Life with Severe Autism.”

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Where are Black Women in Monumental Art?

Dixon Li, a doctoral candidate in English, reveals a critical missing piece in the public monuments discourse.

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Researchers Think Small to Make Progress Toward Better Fuel Cells

Jennifer Lee, chemistry graduate student, shows how custom-designed nanomaterials can make fuel cells more efficient.

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The genome and the biome

Rebecca Mueller, Ph.D. student in history and sociology of science, studies how infectious microbes like the coronavirus can affect communities of people with genetic vulnerabilities.

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In a time of uncertainty, resources for grad students hold steady

The pandemic has highlighted the unique challenges graduate students face, and the University has resources to help.

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Tweets by PennGradCenter

Visit Penn Grad Center on Twitter

Penn Grad Talks

Each year, Penn Arts and Sciences presents Penn Grad Talks (formerly Grad Ben Talks): an afternoon of TED Talk-style presentations by graduate students representing the Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, and Professional Master’s programs. Judges select winners in each of the four categories. There is also an Audience Choice Winner selected by online votes.

Watch the 2020 winning presentations