On Thursday, Sept. 5, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (SOM) welcomed 130 new PhD students at a ceremony in Alumni Hall, the school’s largest incoming cohort ever.
Now in its fourth year, the Welcome Ceremony grew out of a desire during, and coming out of, the COVID-19 pandemic to promote a sense of community among PhD students and celebrate their key role in the University’s wealth of biomedical research.
The students represent 12 graduate programs, which include interdisciplinary programs in the SOM, joint programs with Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and with Carnegie Mellon University, and a new oncology program based at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
The SOM PhD Welcome Ceremony is unique in that students receive a fleece jacket to symbolize their rite of passage into graduate school, similar to the white coat common in other health sciences schools’ welcoming ceremonies. The jackets reflect the diversity of SOM PhD students’ research. While some students will be working in wet labs where a lab coat is worn, other students’ research does not require that they wear a coat. Faculty members representing each SOM PhD program presented students with their jackets.
The SOM PhD students also recited the “Scientist’s Oath,” which reflects and honors the entering PhD students’ commitment to maintaining ethical standards and the pursuit of knowledge to benefit humanity.
Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine, also welcomed the students. He emphasized the importance of PhD students in the school’s #6 ranking among universities in funding from the National Institutes of Health. He noted that graduate students’ work helps to win these highly competitive awards.
“You all are the future of biomedical research,” he said. “Some of you will help cure diseases.”
Saleem Khan, associate dean for graduate studies and academic affairs and professor of microbiology and molecular genetics for the SOM, spoke about the size of this cohort of incoming PhD students. Both the number and financial amount of SOM PhD students’ stipends increased this fall, which Khan attributed to Shekhar’s recognition of these students’ vital roles in sustaining research programs.
The PhD students also heard presentations from several SOM faculty members, who spoke about topics like building an inclusive community and finding the right mentor, and from the Biomedical Graduate Student Association President Dana Julian, who also led them through the Scientist’s Oath. The event ended with a reception offering students an opportunity to socialize and network.
SCIENTIST’S OATH
As I embark on my career as a scientist, I willingly pledge that:
- I will practice and support a scientific process that is based on logic, intellectual rigor, personal integrity, and an uncompromising respect for truth;
- I will perform my professional activities and interactions with scientific integrity and respect for the field and my peers;
- I will acknowledge my role as an ambassador of science to the public, and strive to be honest, respectful, and unbiased with engaging the public;
- I will value my work and its contribution to the scientific community;
- I will never let the potential for personal recognition or advancement cause me to act in a way that violates the public trust in science or in me as a scientist;
- I will foster a community that is inclusive of all and recognize that diversity cultivates innovation, creativity, and progress;
- I will acknowledge and honor the contributions of scientists who have preceded me and become a worthy role model deserving of respect by those who follow me;
- And I will always be cognizant that my work is for the advancement of knowledge and the benefit of all humanity.
This oath was written in 2014 by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine biomedical PhD students. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Biomedical Graduate Student Association reviewed and adopted the oath in 2021. The oath for scientists was written to help promote public trust in science.
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